
Class 

Book 

Gqpyrigliffl?- 



COFYRJGHT DEPOSm 



FRONTIERS OF 
THE AFTER LIFE 



By the Same Author: 

THE DEAD 
HAVE NEVER DIED 



Offers evidence of life after death in simple 
and non-technical language. 
"A grippingly interesting work." 

—New York Times 

"An impressive and illuminating book of 
paramount importance. There is not a solitary 
dull page." 

— The Harbinger of Light 

NEW YORK: ALFRED . A . KNOPF 



s 



FRONTIERS OF 
THE AFTER LIFE 
ED WARD C. RANDALL 




New York • Alfred • A • Knopf • 1922 
•#•••••••#•• • • • # • t ♦ o • ••##•«## 



COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY 
ALFRED A. KNOPF, InQ. 

Published, August, 1923 V. 



ei4 



-P'4 



Set up, electrotyped, and printed by the Vail-Bollou Co., Minghatnton, N. Y. 

Paper furnished by W. F. Etherington & Co., New York, N. Y. 

Bound by the H. Wolff Estate, New York, N. Y. 



MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



SEP -8 1322 
0I.A683127 



FOREWORD 

September in the north land! Nature has not 
been prodigal with her colors this Autumn; the 
frosts came early, so the forests change slowly; 
but yesterday, as if by magic, there was gold 
among the green, and today there is purple and 
red; hilltops blaze with their crowns of maple, 
slopes show grey in the sunlight, vines straggle 
here and there in lines of bronze, and the great 
timber reaches stand out in their sombre shades. 

Again I have crossed the Canadian border and 
come into the heart of the wilderness, into the 
silence where one can think deeply. Here in a 
cabin, where I have spent many summers, there is 
a quiet not to be found in the great cities. The 
crisp air, clean and pure, stimulates like old wine, 
and the moving waters along the wooded shores 
soothe tired nerves. 

It is good at times to be alone — alone in the 
heart of a great forest. Listening, one hears new 
sounds, new voices, voices of the woodland, voices 
of the furtive folk, voices of the swaying trees 

[5] 



FOREWORD 



and moving waters, voices everywhere — for wher- 
ever there is life there is language, language of 
which we in our wisdom get only an indefinite im- 
pression. I have heard other voices — voices of 
those the world calls dead — on more than seven 
hundred nights, covering a period of twenty-two 
years, aided by a wonderful psychic, I talked with 
those in the after life, they using their own vocal 
organs just as I did. 

This astounding statement, owing to lack of 
knowledge and to erroneous conceptions, staggers 
the ordinary imagination. These facts will not 
be grasped, without explaining how it is done and 
describing the conditions which make speech with 
spirit people possible. I am going to tell, if I 
can, in language that may be understood, what the 
great change actually is and to what it leads. In 
order to do this, the first fact that must be brought 
home is that here and now our real body is our 
inner body; that what is visible and tangible is 
the flesh garment, which we wear while an inhabi- 
tant of this plane; that dissolution is only a sep- 
aration — a severance of the inner body from the 
flesh garment; that both are material and that 
thereafter the spirit body is identically the same 
as before — the same, but lacking the outer cover- 

[6] 



FOREWORD 



ing. Also, the place inhabited by all these so- 
called dead is as material and tangible as this 
earth, and, given the right conditions, those who 
have gone from us can talk voice to voice with us 
as when in earthly life. 

How stupendous the undertaking! Notwith- 
standing the great privilege that has been mine, 
greater perhaps than that enjoyed by most people, 
I feel unequal to the task, and were it not for the 
consciousness that an invisible group would in 
some way guide and help, I question my courage. 

All this cannot be done by mere statement 
of conclusions. Such is human mentality, that 
each condition must be illustrated and explained, 
the principle involved must be expounded and 
made to appeal to one's reason; otherwise, it goes 
for naught. I have, in many cases, left the ex- 
planation of these great problems in the actual 
words of those who now live over the border; I 
have quoted their statements, describing dissolu- 
tion, the place where they live and what they do 
to sustain and enrich themselves in their life from 
day to day. I will also let them tell something of 
the effect in that plane of acts and thoughts on 
this one. 

In order to think clearly, I find I must be far 
[7] 



FOREWORD 



from the confusion of business, in harmony with 
nature, in tune with natural vibrations. For that 
reason, and to fulfil a promise made to a group 
of spirit people, I have sought the seclusion of this 
forest home, as I have done before, to tell again 
to a hungry world something of what I have 
learned of the conditions following so-called 
death. 

The twilight gathers; the day and night are 
blending; purple shadows in the west; the great 
logs crack; the fire warms; the winds sigh in the 
branches; and over the wooded island across the 
bay the full moon glints and rises majestically in 
the concave sky, flooding the world with light and 
making a pathway to my cabin door. 

The problem of life and death is the most vital 
of all that confront mankind, and the least under- 
stood. Here in the quiet of this place all the so- 
called dead come close. Though I possess no 
psychic sight or hearing, such has been my speech 
and acquaintance with them, that they come at the 
thought call and hold mental speech with me. I 
catch their silent suggestion. 

Death is unknown in nature. Change comes to 
the human race and man is changing day by day, 
but final dissolution is only another step in his 

[8] 



FOREWORD 



progression. Those that have gone since the 
earth was first peopled, live on, and we who tread 
the earth today will live on. They now hold 
speech with those who still inhabit the earth plane, 
as we may do when we join them, if conditions 
are right. And as communication is better per- 
fected, there will be a better understanding, and 
finer development, as we come to know this law. 

The past comes to me like a dream. Again I 
hear the voices of those who have gone before, 
speaking words of encouragement and words of 
wisdom. I feel again the touch of their hands 
vibrating beyond measure, yet warm and natural 
for the moment. And their faces, clothed for an 
instant with material as when they lived here, I 
see now in memory as when I saw in fact. 

Dissolution will mean little to me, for I know 
something of the reality of the after life and I 
have, in my years of work, made many friends 
there. I will not go as a stranger to a strange 
land, but as one who has, by effort, gained some 
knowledge of conditions to be met, and many of 
those who reside there, whom I never knew in the 
physical body, I shall have the privilege of call- 
ing my friends. 

How astounding the fact that human life is 
[9] 



FOREWORD 



lived with no thought of the morrow, with little or 
no regard of what waits beyond! Nature has a 
purpose in all things. What is man's purpose? 
We come out of the invisible, stay for a little time, 
and go back to the invisible; but which is the real? 
How many ever give this subject the slightest con- 
sideration? What is man's conception of it, and 
how must he live and what must he do, to meet 
with self-respect the life beyond? 

The morning breaks. I go out on the broad 
veranda and face the east, as the September sun 
shows above the hills. It has shown millions of 
times before and will shine when all that now live 
in this physical plane are forgotten, and when new 
generations have taken their place and property. 
I see about me in volcanic rock, in fossil fragments 
stolen from decay, in valleys worn between the 
hills, in ridges lifted from the underworld, in var- 
ious forms of life, the record of earth's countless 
ages. In retrospection, I see the bursting bud and 
leaf and flower in the spring, the fullness and glory 
of the summer, and the golden autumn, emblem- 
atic of man's birth, growth and passing. 

Just a short season and the twilight will fall 
upon the past, our physical eyes will dim, the 
mind fail to record the memory of events, our 

[10] 



FOREWORD 



ears will become dull, the pulse pause, brain lose 
the power to think, then, as quietly as the dawn 
meets morning, the separation comes. Out of the 
housing of the flesh, the inner material body 
emerges, though we see it not, and it is welcomed 
by those who have gone before. This is the 
second birth, so like the first, except that all the 
knowledge, individuality and spirituality gained 
in our earth life is retained, and we as a people 
live on in the fulness of our mentality and strength 
as before. 

Dissolution neither adds to nor subtracts from 
the sum total of our knowledge. The inner ma- 
terial body in which we have functioned, we shall 
still function in for all eternity. 

This is what I am endeavouring to explain as it 
has been told to me. Such is the incentive to 
write this book. 



Edward C. Randall. 



Buffalo, N. Y. 
1922. 



[113 



CONTENTS 

Foreword 5 

I. The Great Question 15 

II. The Inner Spirit Body 22 

III. The Death Change 31 

IV. After Dissolution 42 
V. Where Is the After Life? 52 

VI. Voices of the Dead 64 

VII. Materiality of the Universe 77 

VIII. Light in the Spirit World 88 

IX. Homes in the After Life 97 

X. Spirit Occupations 107 

XI. Poverty in the After Life 119 

XII. Child Life Beyond 129 

XIII. Earthbound 140 

XIV. Helping the Dead 152 
XV. Mission Work 164 

XVI. Spirit Influence 171 

XVII. Development Through Charity 181 

XVIII. Fragments 188 

XIX. Intellectual Progress 196 

XX. Looking into the Future 204 

[13] 



CHAPTER I. THE GREAT 
QUESTION 

SINCE mankind came up out of savagery, 
the great problem has been: What is the 
ultimate end? What, if anything, awaits 
on the other side of death's mysterious door? 
What happens when the hour strikes that closes 
man's earth career, when, leaving all the gathered 
wealth of lands and goods, he goes out into the 
dark alone? Is death the end — annihilation and 
repose? Or, does he wake in some other sphere 
or condition, retaining personality? 

Each must solve this great question for him- 
self. Dissolution and change have come to every 
form of life, and will come to all that live. With 
opportunity knocking at the door, mankind has 
but little more appreciation of it now than it had 
when Phallic-worship swayed the destinies of 
empires. It may be that, as a people, our devel- 
opment has been such that we could heretofore 
grasp and comprehend only length, breadth, and 

[15] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



thickness, the three accepted physical dimensions 
of matter; that in our progression we have but 
now become able to appreciate and understand 
life beyond the physical plane. 

Time was when all knowledge was handed down 
from one generation to another by story, song and 
tradition. When the Persian civilization was 
growing old and ambition towered above the lofty 
walls of Babylon; when Egypt was building her 
temples on the banks of the Nile; when Greece 
was the center of art and culture, and Rome with 
its wealth and luxuries held sway over the civ- 
ilized world, they were not ready for, and could 
not appreciate, that progress which has come. 

The world cannot stand still. The great law 
of the universe is progress. Two or three genera- 
tions since, the idea that a cable would one day 
be laid under the sea and the messages would be 
transmitted under the waters from continent to 
continent, was laughed at as a chimera. Only a 
little while ago, the world could not comprehend 
that words and sentences could be flashed across 
the trackless ocean from ship to ship, and from 
land to land, without wires. 

[16] 



THE GREAT QUESTION 



And who shall now say that it is not possible 
to send thoughts, words, sentences, voices even, 
and messages, out into the ether of the spirit 
world, there to be heard, recorded and answered? 
Has man reached the end of his possibilities; will 
all progression stop with Marconi's achievements? 

This is the age of man; we have passed the age 
of the gods. If our development is such that we 
can comprehend the life and the conditions fol- 
lowing dissolution, it must be within our grasp as 
surely as progress has been possible at all times 
and among all people since the world began. 

Assuming, then, that we have come to that pe- 
riod, when we can look upon all subjects and prop- 
ositions impartially and intelligently, no longer 
bound by fear, past or present, we can now ap- 
preciate that it is of the greatest importance to 
know what follows this life. 

We are swinging away from the old moorings; 
new views come with changing times and condi- 
tions. Knowledge is the torch that fires our en- 
thusiasm and makes advancement possible. It is 
not the past, but the future, that commands our 
attention. We may learn much of nature as she 

[17] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



speaks, in all dialects, her various tongues. All 
truth is safe, nothing else will suffice, and he who 
holds back the truth, through expediency or fear, 
fails in his duty to mankind. 

Our age is one of sudden and rapid changes; 
the people are in a state of transition. Most 
minds are sensitive, alert and versatile. It is 
a period fraught with unrest and thirst for knowl- 
edge. What was true yesterday, assumes a dif- 
ferent, one could almost say a diametrically op- 
posite, aspect today. This is a period fruitful in 
scientific discoveries, and in the adaptation of the 
universal law of vibratory action. Much that is 
said now could not have been explained twenty 
years ago. Mankind has progressed to that point 
where it can comprehend life as it exists in the 
great beyond, and, as surely as day follows the 
night, he will come to understand it. That force 
which directs the destiny of all living things, seems 
to have planned it for this time, and many, like 
myself, are but instruments directed by that great 
force that we call Good and others call God. 

Many have come to know what awaits over the 
great divide, have solved the great problem of 
dissolution, and, with the confidence born of 

[18] 



THE GREAT QUESTION 



knowledge, based on facts proved and demon- 
strated, speak with authority. 

The thought that there need be no more groping 
in the dark makes the pulse quicken. The real- 
ization that fear can now be eliminated from the 
human brain fills every heart with joy. The fact 
that we may come into touch with those in spheres 
beyond and know that they live, and how and 
where they live, will lift the burden of sorrow 
from every heart that mourns its dead. 

We of older growth are but children in the wil- 
derness of these new and subtle laws. Before we 
can grasp and comprehend this philosophy we 
must eliminate false conceptions and erroneous 
ideas, and come to the subject with open mind. 
That this is a difficult task I well know, for minds 
filled with traditions and false or no conceptions 
of the after life, simply cannot at once compre- 
hend the truth when it is given to them. There 
can be no individual progression until one be- 
comes free, mentally poised, open to reason and 
willing to hear facts and to weigh them honestly. 
The blind are entitled to our sympathy; we look, 
with sorrow, upon those who cannot accept a 
truth, because it is not as they have been taught; 

[19] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



but we grasp the open hand of the free, walk 
with them along nature's highway, and reason 
together. 

Man, in his ignorance, is like the bewildered 
stream blindly groping its way down the steep 
hillside, turned in its course by every resistance 
it meets; rushing, retreating and halting, moved 
by the weak force of an inferior instinct. Some 
invisible power carries it onward. It little knows 
the nature of that power. It seems to be carried 
by an impulse from within. After a time the 
stream grows wider and deeper, its current less 
swift. Then it enlarges to the calm, peaceful 
river which flows steadily and unerringly through 
the wide valleys on its appointed way to the sea. 
Likewise, man is led onward by the mysterious 
force of a superior destiny. At first he rushes 
about impetuously, and murmurs because of the 
restrictions imposed by the law. But his con- 
sciousness grows broader and deeper with the 
march of the years, and in the clear waters of 
mind he sees a reflection of some of the great truths 
of the universe. His visions of the beauty of that 
inner world of ideas inspire him to a life of noble 
endeavour. 

[20] 



THE GREAT QUESTION 



Humanity, as a whole, is like the streams and 
rivers of earth. All men are moving irresistibly 
onward, carried by some mysterious power they 
feel, but cannot fathom. Humanity at last will 
reach the boundless sea, where there will be no 
discord, no unrealized yearnings, no limitation. 
Deep down in the still waters all hearts will find 
peace. 

Humanity is awakening. The mind has, at last, 
become active, and now demands to know what 
fate awaits us beyond the grave. Man has learned 
something about himself and the universe, and 
this knowledge is making him free. This is an 
age of intellectual emancipation. Those who walk 
with open eyes will find the truth, for it lights the 
way across the continent of every human life. 



[21] 



CHAPTER II. THE INNER 
SPIRIT BODY 



T 



"f | ^HERE is a natural body, and there is a 
spiritual body." .Those words have 
fallen from the lips of priests, over the 
bodies of the so-called dead, for thousands of years, 
yet not a single minister who uttered them, nor one 
among the millions of mourners, who for cen- 
turies past heard them, ever formed any rational 
conception of what they meant — and for ages 
the world has been filled with sorrow. 

Had they understood nature's purpose, and 
known the advantages which the so-called dead 
gained through the process of dissolution, they 
would have been comforted. In the presence of 
such truth, all creeds wither and decay, and old 
teachings fail to satisfy. That this is a fact, every 
one who mourns must testify. There must be 
something wrong with a system of philosophy or 
a teaching that always fails when put to the test. 
When the earth clods fall upon the physical body 

[22] 



THE INNER SPIRIT BODY 



of one held dear, hope sees a star; but hope is not 
knowledge, and tears fall on furrowed cheeks. 
If those who still remain but knew that death, as 
it is called, was only change — a progression — and 
that the departed still live, and if they knew about 
their present abiding place, the world of gloom 
would turn to one of joy. 

There is a natural, by that I mean a physical, 
body, and there is a spiritual body ; but those bare 
propositions, standing alone, convey nothing to 
the human mind. They must be followed by 
facts explaining, if it be a fact, how there can 
possibly be two bodies in one when only one is 
visible to sight and sensible to touch. Without 
knowing the law of nature involved, without 
proof that one survives, although the other goes 
back to mingle with the elements from whence it 
came, it is utterly impossible to comprehend what 
was intended by the words first quoted. 

I have seen spirit bodies materialize, have 
touched them and found them as the natural. I 
have heard them speak and tell over and over 
again that they had bodies, the same bodies as 
when they lived the earth life. Still I was not 
satisfied, and sought to know the character of the 

[23] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 

two, how they blended, how they worked as one, 
what natural law was involved, what happened in 
the dissolution process, why two were necessary, 
to the end that I might comprehend the fact, for 
until such knowledge was acquired I had only a 
very hazy idea, if any, of the situation. 

As fast as I was able to comprehend the facts, 
they were given me, and lo and behold, like all 
natural laws, I found all simple. 

This planet is but one in the federation of the 
infinite. All the universe is filled with life, and 
on this earth, as on others, this force impregnates, 
finds lodgment, and is clothed in physical gar- 
ments, to the end that it may increase, multiply, 
develop, and in time go back to the infinite from 
whence it came. In that manner and through that 
process, it increases the sum total of what we call 
God or universal good, but it is only by change 
that that process designed by the Infinite can be 
carried forward, and death, so-called, is but one 
of the steps in life's progression. 

When matter is receptive, an atom from the 
life mass is clothed, and from the moment of 
conception commences its journey back to its 
source. How fast it develops, what progress it 

[24] 



THE INNER SPIRIT BODY 



makes, depends much on environment. Its form 
depends upon the substance which clothes it. 
Whether physical expression appears as man or 
animal, in earth, rocks, growing things or the 
water of the sea, depends on how, and under what 
conditions, it obtains its start here. All is life, 
expressed in visible form, and where there is life 
there is thought, and neither life nor thought can 
be destroyed. 

There is also physical evidence tending to prove 
the same proposition. One has his leg amputated, 
and still feels that he can move his foot; another 
loses his arm, but still can use his hand and move 
his fingers. Such is their impression and feeling. 
Many with whom I have talked are very serious in 
this matter, and they are right, — amputation can 
only remove the covering of an arm or leg; no 
part of the etheric body form can be cut off. This 
remains intact, whatever occurs to the outer cover- 
ing, for in dissolution it appears intact. A body 
in that advanced plane may be undeveloped, 
shrunken and deformed, but it will be all there, 
and it will appear just as one has made it. 

Life is expressed in form ; without form it could 
not function. We cannot see the mighty oak in 

[25] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 

the heart of the acorn, but it is there in all its 
splendid promise. We cannot see man, the won- 
der of creation, in the fluid that first clothes it in 
its conception, but man is there with form and 
feature, strength and character, which will ever 
have continuity. With mankind the spirit body 
is clothed, in the beginning, with a flesh garment, 
a material vibrating more slowly than the ether 
of which it is composed, and the process of growth 
commences. The next change is the physical birth; 
then comes earth life and the development, physi- 
cal and spiritual; next is the separation of the 
spiritual from the outer covering in the change 
called death — no more wonderful and not half 
so mysterious as birth; then on, to climb the 
heights in everlasting life. Such are the teachings 
that have come to me, voice to voice, from spirit 
people — some whom I personally have known, and 
others whom I have come to know and respect in 
this work. 

Volumes could be written on this subject from 
what is now known. Every man, woman and 
child living on this earth plane, did possess in the 
beginning, and possesses now, an inner or spirit 
body, composed and made up of that material we 

[26] 



THE INNER SPIRIT BODY 



call ether, a substance and material so fine and of 
such rapid vibration that the physical eye can 
not see it. This inner or etheric body alone has 
sensation. It takes form and feature, stature and 
expression, while earth life lasts, and retains these 
in the next life as well. 

This inner spirit body, during this stage of its 
development, is simply clothed, covered or housed 
in a visible, slowly vibrating garment that we call 
flesh, which has no sensation. This is evident 
from the fact that when the one is separated from 
the other, the outer body has no sensation or mo- 
tion, so that it decays and loses form. 

That experience called death is nature's process 
by which the two are separated. The habitation, 
for some cause, becomes unfit for further occu- 
pancy. The spirit, or the inner body, is released 
for further progression from the tenement which 
is no longer habitable. The earth body goes back 
into its elements, to be used again to clothe other 
forms of life. The inner or spirit body, holding 
its same form, invisible then as before, but func- 
tioning as before, labours and finds further oppor- 
tunity for growth and spirituality. This it finds 
in the zones or belts that surround this globe, and, 

[27] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



when proper conditions are made, it answers to 
our call, and tells us of life in its new plane, in- 
visible to mortal eye. 

I asked this question of Dr. David Hossack, who 
has been in spirit life nearly a century: 

"Is my understanding correct, that here and now we 
have, and possess, an inner etheric body, which, 
divested of its flesh garment, passes intact to the 
spirit world?" 

In reply he said: 

"There is an inner, etheric body, composed of minute 
particles, of such substance that it can, and does, 
pass into spirit life. Your outer bodies are too 
gross and material to effect the change. The inner 
body is but the mind, the thought, the soul of the 
person. It is in the semblance of the material 
body, but whether beautiful or ugly, strong or 
weak, depends upon the inner life of the person to 
whom belongs that particular spark of the great 
radiance called life, or God. 

"Some there be who build a fair body, and some 
there be who come into this life with a body so 
mis-shapen and sickly it takes much effort to effect 
an upright, clean one. They all come with bodies 

[28] 



THE INNER SPIRIT BODY 



naturally, as all things have minds, after one 
fashion or another; but the conditions of these 
bodies are very different. Naturally, the mind, 
being the reality of man, is that which lives on, — 
beautiful or disfigured by good or evil thoughts, 
as the case may be. The only comfort is that 
every one has opportunity here to work out the 
change in himself, and sometime? those changes 
are very rapid." 

Another said: 

"In earth life I gave all for wearing apparel; and 
when I reached the spirit world, I did not have 
rags enough to cover me, and the beauty of my 
form had vanished. I was mis-shapen and dis- 
torted. At first I could not understand that it was 
my spiritual body that was so deformed, for I had 
not given the spiritual part of me a thought while 
on earth. In fact, the earth was all in all for me, 
and I did not trouble myself to think of another 
life, deeming the time better spent in enjoying the 
things I knew I possessed. 

"A spirit came and offered to clothe me, but no 
sooner did the garments touch my body than they 
were discolored. My progress has been slow, but 
after many years of suffering I have developed my 
spirit and restored its beauty, but it is different 
from what it was in the life below." 

[29] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



But evidence of all things spiritual must, of 
necessity, come from those who live there. Their 
condition is different, their laws are different, for 
they live in a world invisible to our eyes, and we 
can not insist, if we would understand their life, 
on applying physical laws and methods. It is 
from spirit people that I have sought knowledge, 
and from them, and through years of investigation 
and research, I have come to know as a fact that 
"there is a natural body and there is a spiritual 
body." 



[30] 



CHAPTER III. THE DEATH 
CHANGE 

WHAT happens at Death? What are 
one's sensations, and what meets the 
vision on awakening? This has been 
described thousands of times, and I quote from 
my records something of what I have been told on 
the important subject: 

"It is a privilege to tell you of my transition. The 
last physical sensation that I recall was one of 
falling, but I had no fear — it seemed so natural. 
At the same time I heard voices speaking words 
of encouragement, voices that I recognized as those 
of loved ones that I thought dead. For a time I 
had no recollection. Then I awoke in this spirit 
sphere, and never will I forget the joy that was 
mine. I found myself, saw my body, which 
appeared as usual, except lighter and more 
ethereal. I was resting on a couch in a beautiful 
room filled with flowers. I looked through a win- 
dow and saw the landscape, bathed in rose-colored 
light. There was a quiet that was impressive, then 

[31] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



music, the harmonious vibration of which seemed 
to rise and fall softly. Then one appeared, and, 
though she spoke no words, I seemed to understand 
and answered. 

"In this thought language she told me that she had 
been my guardian while in the old body, and now 
that I had been released she would take me over 
the home that I had in my life been building. 

"She said: 'This room so beautiful is the result of 
'your self-denial and the happiness you brought to 
'others, but there are others not so pleasing'; 
and we passed into another that was dark and filled 
with rubbish; the air was heavy. This my guide 
said was builded through my selfishness. Then to 
another, a little better lighted. I was told that 
every effort to do better created something brighter. 
Then into the garden where, among beautiful 
flowers, grew obnoxious weeds, the result of 
spiritual idleness. 

" 'The house must all be made beautiful,' she said, 
'the weeds of idleness uprooted; and this can only 
'be done by yourself, through work in the lower 
'planes, by helping others.' " 

My father's experience he described to me as 
follows: 

"You will recall the day of my dissolution. I had 
[32] 



THE DEATH CHANGE 



been in poor health for some months. That 
morning the air was so soft and warm, and the 
sun so bright, I wanted to be out in it, so I took 
my horse and buggy and started for a village about 
seven miles distant. As I drove along, a weakness 
seemed to come upon me and I partially reclined 
on the seat. Even then, though seventy-six years 
of age, I had no thought that my passing was near. 
As I arrived at the house where I was going, the 
sensation of weakness increased, but I was able to 
walk in unaided and sat in a chair. The faintness 
increased, and, raising my eyes, I saw your mother 
standing in the room, smiling. Startled, I arose to 
my feet, and my last earthly sensation was falling 
— and, as I now know, I did pitch forward on my 
face. I do not recall striking the floor, or pain in 
my death change. When the separation came, I 
was like one in sleep. 

"The next I recall was awaking in the same room, 
with the leader of your spirit group holding my 
hand, helping me up. I had heard his wonderful 
voice many times when I was privileged to come 
into your work, but it took me some little time to 
realize what happened to me. I saw my body on 
the floor. This startled me, for the body I then 
had was to my sight and touch identical with the 
one lying so quiet. I saw people hurrying, and 
heard the anxious talk, not yet comprehending my 
separation from the physical body. 

[33] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



"I turned to your old friend, and mine, and asked 
him what had happened. He answered: 

" 'Have you not been told when you talked with us 
'in your son's home, that death was the separation 
'of the inner from the outward body?' '"I recall 
'that statement,' I replied, 'but I never compre- 
hended it.' 

"'You have just made that change,' he said; 'you 
are now an inhabitant of the spirit world and one of 
us'. 

"I was deeply impressed with what he said, but 
dazed. I could not realize that the something 
called death was behind me, and that in me there 
had been no change, for I was the same in appear- 
ance and thought as before. Then memory 
quickened, and I commenced to think of what it 
meant. I could not think clearly, and my guide 
said, 'Come with me for a little time and rest, and 
'all will be well with you.' I went with him, and 
those I saw and what I was I will tell you another 
time." 

This is another's description: 

"I remember seeing about me those that had been 
dead for a long time. This impressed me greatly, 
but I did not realize it fully. Then I felt a pe- 
culiar sensation all through my body. Then I 

[34] 



THE DEATH CHANGE 



seemed to rise up out of my body and come down 
quietly on the floor. 

'I was in the same room, but there seemed to be 
two of me, one on the bed and one beside the bed. 
All about were my family in deep grief, why I 
could not tell, for my great pain was gone and I 
felt much better. Some of those whom I recognized 
as persons who had died, asked me to go, and with 
that thought I was outside and apparently could 
walk on the air. My next thought was that it was 
a dream and that I would awake and feel again the 
terrible pain. I was gently told what had 
happened, and I felt that God had been unjust to 
take me when I had so much to do, and when I was 
so needed by my family. I was not satisfied with 
the place I was in. About me there was a fog, and 
I started to walk out of it, but the farther 1} 
walked, the more dense it got, and I became dis- 
couraged and sat down by the wayside in deep 
grief. I had ever tried to provide the very best 
for those dependent on me. Where was my 
reward? Then some one approached, came as it 
were out of the fog, and I told him of my life 
work and complained of the condition I was in, and 
questioned the justice of it. He replied, 'Yours 
'was a selfish love; you worked for self. You should 
'have made others happy as well as your own.' 
He promised to help me in my great trouble, if I 
would help myself. Together we have worked, and 

[35] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



now all is well; it is light and glorious. But that 
first awakening was not all that could be desired. 
My greatest disappointment after my awakening 
was when I returned to my old home, for I dis- 
covered that none could see or feel me and all 
grieved for me as one dead, and their sorrow held 
me. I wept with them, and could not get away, 
until time healed their sorrow." 

How terrible it is that the world that has made 
so much progress in many things knows little of 
this greatest change, and the little it does know 
has almost been forced upon it by a few that know 
this truth and have the courage to stand for it. 

These descriptions, as I review what I have 
written, do not give a fair idea of an average 
death change, and looking through my records I 
find another more normal: 

"I left the physical world rich. I had little money, 
but day by day, during a fairly long life, by some 
act I made others happier, and so spiritualized and 
uplifted my spirit. Such was my only religion. 

"When the separation approached, though I had no 
actual knowledge of what was to come, I had no 
fear. I had been very sick, felt greatly exhausted, 
and longed for rest. I realized the presence of 

[36] 



THE DEATH CHANGE 



my family and their grief. There came to my 
senses harmonious vibrations that sounded afar 
off, like string and reed instruments played by 
master hands. It seemed to approach and then 
recede, and was lost. It soothed and comforted 
me. Then I realized that others were in the room. 
I could not see their faces distinctly, and wondered 
at strangers coming in at such a time. Some one 
spoke, and, rousing up, I saw more clearly and 
recognized many of my friends whom I had thought 
dead. 

'I was not startled or frightened — it was all so 
natural. They greeted me cordially and asked me 
to go with them. Without effort, other than de- 
sire, I arose and joined them and went with them, 
for the moment forgetting the grief of my family. 
I seemed to travel without effort. Then I met a 
great company of men and women with radiant 
faces, clothed in white and blending colors. Their 
greeting was one of joyous welcome, and happiness 
was in everything. It was like meeting old friends 
that had been gone for a long time; it was simply 
glorious and so intense that for a time I gave no 
thought to the tremendous import of it all. Then 
I looked about. There was harmony in everything. 
I was in a new country. About me I saw great 
variety of landscape, most picturesque mountain 
ranges, valleys, rivers, lakes, forests, and the corre- 
sponding vegetable life of all that I had known. 

[37] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



It was suggested that I go to a rest house, where 
my strength would be restored. I did and seemed 
to fall into a deep sleep almost immediately. After 
a time I awoke, when some one whom I knew and 
loved said, 'Come with me now and view your in- 
heritance.' I went, and the glory of it was, and is, 
beyond my power of description. 

"I should like the privilege some time to tell the 
world of the beauty in which I live, and the pleasure 
I find in the work allotted to me. This plane, and 
all planes, I am told, is governed by law — nature's 
law, the same as yours — and it is the privilege and 
duty of every one to develop the spirit by study 
and helping others. There is much that I should 
like to say of my return to my family, but, as I 
am asked only to describe my spirit passage, I 
will leave that and tell you more concerning the 
joy of the spirit at some more opportune time." 

There are those in the next life who have quali- 
fied for, and are assigned to, the reception depart- 
ment, whose duty it is to solace and comfort such 
as are grief-stricken because of the sudden severing 
of social ties, as it seems to those taken suddenly 
out of the mortal. This is a description: 

"I am here to describe as well as I can the actual 
[38] 



THE DEATH CHANGE 



scenes over here, as the new born spirits, divested 
of their physical bodies, come over. They come 
to us, not one or two or three, but in crowds, by 
thousands and more, some not awakened to con- 
sciousness, some just waking, some fully conscious. 
Few realize for some time that they have passed the 
portal you call death, but as realization comes and 
they understand, their thoughts are of their 
strongest ties. What a commotion of feeling one 
hears! The same intense feelings exist when out 
of the old body as when in the physical, and 
those feelings are just as discernible to spirit sen- 
sation as before, only the mode of expression and 
reception is changed. 

"As I was feeling my soul leaving the physical 
sheath, I heard mysterious chords of rhythmic 
melody rising and falling like distant waves of the 
sea. A voice said in thrilling gentleness: 
'My child, pass from vision into luminous light, from 
'night to day, from death to life.' 
Then a light beating slowly passed away from 
about me and to my utter amazement I found my- 
self resting at a place quite free and transcendent 
with divine light. A deep and gentle sound 
vibrating through the ethereal firmament filled 
me with joy and happiness, and nothing was per- 
ceptible to me except this vibration of the sound. 
I felt that I must wait till a divine messenger came 
to guide me into the regions yet unseen. The 
[39] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



atmosphere of awe and reverence that swept over 
me for the moment gradually paled away and, 
rising as I thought, I walked through the darkness 
which then encompassed me. As I did this, my 
other hand was suddenly caught by some one in a 
warm and eager clasp and I was guided along with 
an infinitely gentle but commanding touch, which 
I had no hesitation in obeying. Step by step I 
walked with a strange sense of happy reliance on 
my companion and guide. Darkness and distance 
had no misgivings for me. And as I went onward 
with my hand yet held in that masterful but tender 
grasp, my thoughts became, as it were, suddenly 
cleared into a light of full understanding of the 
celestial world and its joy. And so I went on and 
on, caring little how long the journey might be 
and even eagerly wishing that it might continue, 
when presently a faint light began to peer 
through darkness, first blue and grey, then white, 
and then rose. The light, so sublimely luminous, 
gradually condensed into matter, and in a moment 
a celestial being of beauty, richly wrapped up in 
pure white and silken robes, stood before me. 
After the thrilling sensation, caused by this sudden 
manifestation, had given a little way for courage 
and hope, I beheld the same figure transforming 
into an almost manly and commanding attitude, 
with radiant face and brilliant eyes now turned 
towards me. It asked, in a gentle but firm tone, 
[40] 



THE DEATH CHANGE 



whether I would like to remain there in the ethereal 
world and enjoy the pleasures stored up for me 
as a requital for my past life on the earth plane. 
Overwhelmed with awe and respect, I could give 
no answer. Seeing me thus puzzled, my guide 
placed his right hand upon my forehead and a 
gentle massage filled me with strength and fresh 
energy. 

"I became bold and courageous, looked my visitor 
in the eyes, and knelt before him. He lifted me 
up gently and said I could for a time remain in 
those ethereal regions where all was pleasure and 
happiness. He said that the place I was then in 
was the destination of those who are recruited from 
amongst people who spend their lives and energy 
on earth for the sake of their fellow- creatures, 
people who do great deeds for the uplift of the 
oppressed and harassed, — the abode of people who 
showed equal compassion to both men and beasts. 
This was my welcome, such my second birth. 
This was my greeting when I crossed the frontiers 
of the After Life." 



[41] 



CHAPTER IV. AFTER DIS- 
SOLUTION 

WHEN the end comes at the close of life's 
short day, we with loving hands dress 
the vacant tenement and tenderly 
and reverently consign it to the earth, from whence 
it came, again to mingle with the elements. But 
what of the invisible inner body, the living, thinking 
individual that has left the physical housing? 
What is its vision, sensation, thought, experience? 
This is best described by one who passed 
through that change — one who had lived a good 
life and had necessarily entered into a fine envi- 
ronment. This description was not given me di- 
rect, but I can vouch for its truthfulness, for I 
have verified it. This spirit, describing where she 
went and what she saw immediately following dis- 
solution, said: 

"You wish to know where I went on leaving the 
earth. Well, there seemed to be a period of un- 
[42] 



AFTER DISSOLUTION 



consciousness; then I awoke and found myself in 
an entirely different place from any I had known 
on earth. I was somewhat confused at first; most 
people are, and find it difficult to realize where they 
are and what has happened to them. I was not 
afraid, however, because I had believed I would be 
taken care of, and would go on living somewhere. 
My ideas about the after life, however, were very 
vague, as are those of the majority of people. 
Psychic work will change all that, however, and 
people will know better what to expect; instead of 
fearing and dreading the dissolution of the body, 
as so many millions do now, it will appear to them 
as it really is, — just a sleep and an awakening! 

"You are wondering, and have often wondered, why 
I was taken when I seemed to be, and was, so much 
needed on earth. You have blamed God, and 
thought it cruel and hard and not by any means an 
act of love. This is the result of your limited 
vision. 

"I will give you a description of the place in which 
I found myself when I awoke after what you call 
'death.' It took me some time to realize the 
beauty of my surroundings, as my eyes were 
blinded by the sorrow which my going had caused 
on earth. The grief of my people kept me so sad 
at first that I was not able to see or think of any- 
thing but earthly sorrow. That is why grief for 
[43] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



departed friends and relatives is so wrong, and is 
so harmful, both to those on earth and to those 
who come over. The longer that grief continues 
and the more hopeless it is, the more those mourned 
for are kept to earth. Instead of being able to go 
straight on when they come over, seeing and realiz* 
ing the beauty and wonders of their surroundings, 
and helping others to see them also, they are kept 
in a state of helpless grief, which renders them 
incapable of helping either themselves or others. 
Fortunately, the grief of my people on earth was 
not of this desperately hopeless variety, and I was 
enabled in time to rise above it and get on with my 
work of helping others. 

"This is a life of service. Self must be eliminated. 
That is why folk who have lived unselfish lives on 
earth get on so well here. They do not need the 
preliminary training which more selfish spirits 
need. It is a very long time before some spirits 
who come over are of any use at all in helping 
others. This is caused partly by their own selfish- 
ness and partly by the selfish grief of their friends 
and relatives on earth. That is why so many of 
the messages sent through are a plea to> those 
relatives for a more hopeful outlook. 

"All that I have said is necessary that you may 
better understand what I am about to tell you. 
When I had been enabled to throw off somewhat 
[44] 



AFTER DISSOLUTION 



the effects of the grief which others felt for my 
passhig, I began to see how beautiful the place I 
had been brought to was. It is where most spirits 
go on leaving the earth. They are taken there by 
other spirits and every effort is made to help them 
to forget the earth and its cares and worries. This 
lovely place is called the Palace of 'Light, 9 because 
that is what is most needed by the spirits of human 
beings when they come over — more light, to enable 
them to see and understand many things which have 
not been clear to them while on earth. Human 
vision — the earthly kind — is very narrow in most 
cases. People fail to grasp the wonder and beauty 
even of the earth, so it is no wonder that they need 
more light and a considerable amount of training 
before they can see and realize all the beauty and 
grandeur to be found over here. 

"Everything is so surprisingly beautiful that, once 
their eyes are opened and the full majesty and 
splendour of it all begins to dawn on them, they are 
transformed and become beautiful likewise. Once 
this transformation is accomplished, their training 
is at an end and they can go on their way rejoicing 
in all the beauty of their surroundings, helping 
others to see and realize it too. 

Tt is almost impossible for us to help some spirits, 
as they have no desire to be different or better 
than they have always been. Prayer by those 

[45] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



still on the earth is the only thing which can help 
them. It will give them a desire for better things. 
Until there is that desire in their hearts, they will 
remain much as they were when they were in the 
flesh. Their spirits still inhabit the earth and they 
are the evil, or sometimes just the mischievous, 
spirits I have told you about before. Prayer is 
not only a protection against them, but is also their 
only hope of salvation. Indifference is the greatest 
sin there is. As long as folk desire to be better, 
there is some foundation to build on, but if that 
desire is lacking it is very difficult to do anything 
with them. 

"I really cannot give you an adequate description 
of the beautiful Palace of Light. It is so marvellous 
and so stupendous that it would not be possible for 
any one still on the earth to grasp its significance. 
It is not just a building, as the word 'Palace' might 
suggest to your mind. It is a wondrous land of 
light, where the beauties of nature, as seen on the 
earth, are brought to perfection. There we have 
sea, sky, hills, mountains, valleys and grassy plains, 
in all their beauty of form and coloring, but with- 
out blemish. There are no barren or desolate places 
and there is none of man's handiwork to mar all this 
loveliness. 

"There are forests of noble trees, great rivers, water- 
falls, lakes, streams of all sizes, all crystal clear, 
[46] 



AFTER DISSOLUTION 



and lovely meadows carpeted with the most beautiul 
flowers, over which hover myriads of gorgeous 
butterflies. There are countless numbers of the 
most beautiful birds everywhere. Animals of all 
kinds abound too. Some of them are dainty and 
graceful, and others are very stately and dignified. 
It is one vast panorama of loveliness, for those who 
have eyes to see. 

"The great pity is that it is so long before some 
spirits even begin to see it as it really is. Some 
of these spirits, who have not progressed far enough 
to see and realize the beauty about them, when 
communicating with their friends on earth, give 
them quite wrong and dissimilar impressions of 
conditions over here. 

"You were wondering just what we mean by the 
term 'progression.' It is a spiritual condition 
entirely, and has nothing to do with the place the 
spirits happen to be in. It is the developing and 
unfolding of the spiritual nature which is necessary 
before the spirits concerned can fully appreciate 
and enjoy the wonderful home prepared for them. 
Spirits are not obliged to stay in some particular 
place until they have completed their development. 
They are all free to go about and see these wonders 
of which I have been telling you, except that they 
are not allowed to go and worry the children in 
their care-free land. Until they develop spirits 
[47] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



ally, they can not appreciate all the wonders about 
them. 

""I have not told you anything about the music we 
get here, except that which the birds make, have I? 
There is always plenty of beautiful music to 
listen to. All kinds of instruments are played, and 
those who desire to do so can play in this great 
orchestra. Then there is the singing. It is 
wonderful. Everyone is free to join in this great 
paean of praise. Those who have not been able to 
sing as they liked on earth, and have always de- 
sired to do better, are able to realize their longing 
here. It is good to witness their joy over this, 
when they have progressed sufficiently to hear the 
singing, and when they are able to> j oin in it their 
happiness is complete." 

Let it not be inferred that all who have expe- 
rienced this change have such a delightful expe- 
rience. The plane one reaches and the character 
of one's surroundings depend on the refinement 
or spirituality of the individual. Each will find 
the conditions he has fitted himself for, and they 
are such as money can not buy. 

Another has this to say: 

"I appreciate your kindness in receiving me so 
[48] 



AFTER DISSOLUTION 



kindly. I speak to you tonight about my expe- 
riences in the 'spirit world,' as you call it — I call 
it the 'higher existence.' 

"In describing my passing to the higher, progressive 
life, I am pleased to say to you that I am giving 
my own observation, and I do not expect you to 
accept it as being the testimony of other friends 
who may have passed over. With what they met, 
I have nothing to do; I have only to state what I 
have experienced. 

"I may state, concerning my experiences on the 
earth, that I lived for a long period of time, a 
little over ninety years, and I led, shall I say, a 
fairly good life. I should like to say concerning 
the latter days that, though old in years, I was not 
at all feeble in body or mind; but as I advanced I 
felt my powers were failing, and that soon I should 
be called to leave the scenes of earth for some- 
thing greater and grander. And so it happened. 

"I remember well, on one summer's day, arising in 
the morning and feeling weak in my body but 
without pain. It was a weakness, the result of 
natural decay of the system. And I remember on 
this occasion that, as the day advanced, I felt more 
weary. I laid me down upon a couch and fell into 
a kind of sleep — not a perfect sleep, because I was 
partially conscious of persons around about me. 
[49] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



"I awoke somewhere about four o'clock in the after- 
noon, looked around, and spoke to one or two near 
me. One was my attendant, who came and asked 
if I should like something to drink. I said I 
should. I lay back and waited, and as I did so I felt 
a strange but not unpleasant feeling coming over 
me. I can only describe it as a sensuous drowsi- 
ness, which seemed to be gaining upon my faculties. 
The scenes round about me were fading, almost 
imperceptibly at first, but passing away from me. 
I was conscious only of that which was just round 
about me, and then that also seemed to fade away, 
and my sleep or weakness was merged into sleep 
which became profound. 

"How long that could have continued I do not know, 
but after a time I again returned to consciousness 
— these are the only terms I can use to convey to 
your minds my experiences. Then I realized that 
I, the Ego, was there just as really as before. I 
realized that I, the personality, was there, though 
some change had taken place.: I felt as one feels 
who had dropped something which had burdened 
him; as a man who had carried a load for a con- 
siderable distance, a load that had not been ex- 
tremely heavy or painful, but still a burden, and I 
had left it behind somewhere. 

"And then, dawning on my spiritual senses, I was 
conscious that I was in some other state of existence, 

[50] 



AFTER DISSOLUTION 



wherein I was not subject to physical forces as I 
had experienced them on the earth plane. For 
instance, the wind did not blow upon me, the sun 
did not shine, nor did the cold affect me. This I 
found and experienced with great joy. In place 
of it I found what you would call, on your mundane 
sphere, an even temperature, a calm and placid 
state. I felt that if peace and contentment could 
be reached, I had reached it. And then I was con- 
scious that round about me there was an innumer- 
able company of people, — they were fellow 
countrymen. 

'As I gained a little more experience, or perhaps, 
as you would say, as my consciousness deepened, I 
knew that I was attended by spiritual messengers 
or attendants. Looking to the one upon my right, 
I said — if not openly, I said it within myself, be- 
cause the Ego speaks within itself, because it is 
Mind — 'This being is perfection.' Divining my 
thoughts, the guide said to me, 'No, you are being 
perfected. There is only perfection in the Infinite. 
Him thou shalt know; with Him thou shalt come in 
contact.' This helped me considerably. If my 
guide, my messenger, who was to conduct me 
through this higher existence, was so perfect in 
mind, so perfect in every way, what then would be 
the Author of his perfection? I was satisfied." 



[51] 



CHAPTER V. WHERE IS THE 
AFTER LIFE? 

WHERE is this after life? Just where 
do they live? Where are its bound- 
aries? These are questions that I 
have some difficulty in understanding, and much 
more in explaining, and I am frank to admit that 
I have not had all the information sought on this 
subject. However, I have some knowledge, gained 
both from my friends in the spirit world and from 
my ability to deduce from common facts. 

Let it be remembered that those in the after life 
have frequently said that every physical thing of 
this earth was but a poor imitation of what they 
have there — that all things exist first in the in- 
visible before they can be reproduced in the vis- 
ible, and that all that we have is a reproduction in 
form of some of the things that exist there. 

Here is what one said on this subject: 

"We have often told you, and tell you now, that your 
earth and all things of your earth have their exact 

[52] 



WHERE IS THE AFTER LIFE? 



counterparts in the spirit world, just as real, just 
as tangible, just as substantial, to the inhabitants 
of this world, as material things and forms are to 
the inhabitants in mortal form upon your earth." 

If this be true, if we have earth and rocks, so 
do they; if we have shrubs and trees and grow- 
ing grains and flowers, so do they; if we have 
houses, schools, great buildings, so do they; if we 
have oceans, lakes, rivers, and flowing streams, so 
do they; if this earth is peopled, why not theirs? 
I am told they have also many things that we have 
not, as they cannot be clothed in earth garments 
nor function on our planet. 

The density of that plane differs from ours, as 
the density of our atmosphere differs from that 
of the water, in which marine life functions. We 
move more rapidly and with greater freedom than 
the life that exists in the deep; so those in the 
higher etheric plane move more rapidly and with 
greater freedom than we do — all because the ma- 
terial conditions become higher in vibration as we 
ascend the scale of motion, and there is more re- 
sistance the lower we descend. 

Striving for more detailed description, I asked 
a spirit in our work one evening: 

[53] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



"Where is the spirit world? What of its substance, 
and where are its boundaries?" 

The spirit answered: 

"It is difficult to explain to you who know little of 
matter, the location and boundaries of the various 
planes where we live. First let me impress upon 
you the fact that energy, that is, life, can not express 
itself except in substance. The idea that spirit 
people function without substance and that they 
and the plane in which they live are unsubstantial, 
is preposterous and illogical. The gases that com- 
pose water, taken separately, are as substantial as 
when united. Why should it be thought im- 
possible, since matter was created, for Nature to 
create other material than physical, to create 
spirit material? There are millions of worlds 
inhabited by human beings in that space you 
call the sky. Don't for a moment think that yours 
is the only world, and that God made the universe 
for you alone. 

w Thi3 spirit world is in reality just as much a part 
of your planet as the earth and rocks you tread 
upon. Around and about your globe, and forming 
a part of it, are separate, material, concentric belts 
or zones, varying in width and vibratory action, 
and therefore in density, into which all mankind and 
[54] 



WHERE IS THE AFTER LIFE? 



all planetary life passes, on the happening of that 
event you call death. 

"I only know the boundaries of these planes in 
which I live and labour. I do not know any more 
about the boundaries of the planes beyond me than 
you know of the planes beyond you." 

Others have reported of these localities as 
follows: 

"Your earth has belts, but they exist in a cruder 
condition than those of Jupiter and Saturn. The 
belts or zones that lie around your earth are de- 
signed for the habitation of spirits out of the body; 
and as they outgrow the passions of earth and be- 
come more refined, they pass to another or higher 
zone. 

"I have discovered, while living here, that there are 
several magnetic belts encircling your earth, 
similar in general appearance to the belts that 
surround the planet Jupiter, and beyond those 
zones there exists, outside earth's spirit sphere, a 
vast spirit world traversing the innermost heart 
of space." 

Another said: 

"I, too, am permitted to gaze back in this way at 
[55] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



earthly scenes; and, for a time, to dwell on earthly 
memories while bringing to you for your world 
some experiences and observations of my own, 
both in mortal existence and in the spheres. 

"I have observed that there are innumerable states 
and conditions and diversified experiences in spirit 
as on earth. We may illustrate by different high- 
ways, thus: 

"Let one condition be represented by a certain 

highway, and another condition by another and 

differing highway, leading through a different 
country. 

"As no two highways of your world lead over the 
same country and present the same scenery to the 
traveller, so of the children of earth no two travel 
over the same highway or have the same expe- 
riences; to each are presented different scenes from 
those presented to any other. 

"One person travelling one road is landed into the 
spirit world at one point, and one on another road 
enters spirit life at another point; and a third, 
on yet another road, enters at a different point 
from either of the others. And so on the endless 
procession moves, landing its infinitude of differ- 
entiated individualities; and each one has a dif- 
ferent idea to relate. Therefore no two relate 
the same story of the earthly journey. 

[56] 



WHERE IS THE AFTER LIFE? 



"But the varied highways of earth continue into 
eternity, and the traveller on each goes eternally on 
his own road from the earth life. And thus all 
travel on in the spirit world, having different ex- 
periences here, as with you; and, on returning to 
you, we have different experiences and different 
descriptions of the spirit world to relate to you, 
according as each has realized for himself" 

This is another spirit's report: 

'There are seven concentric rings called spheres. 
The region nearest the earth is known as the first 
or rudiraental sphere. It really blends with your 
earth sphere. It is just one step higher in vibra- 
tion. Growing more intense and increasing in ac- 
tion are six more, distinguished as the spiritual 
spheres* Theses are all zones or circles of exceed- 
ing fine matter encompassing the earth like belts or 
girdles, — each separate from the other and regu- 
lated by fixed laws. They are not shapeless fan- 
cies or mental projections, but absolute entities, 
just as tangible as the planets of the solar system, 
or the earth on which you reside. They have 
latitude and longitude and atmosphere of peculi- 
arly vitalized vapour. The undulating currents, 
soft and balmy, are invigorating and pleasurable. 

"Although the spheres revolve with the earth on a 
common axis, forming the same angle with the plane 
[57] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



of the ecliptic, and move with it about your sun, 
they are not dependent upon that sun for either 
light or heat; they receive not a perceptible ray 
from that ponderable source. 

"We receive our light emanations," he said, "wholly 
from a great central source, from which comes 
uninterrupted splendour, baffling description." 

I can readily appreciate that spirit people along 
the Frontier and among the rudimentary spheres 
cannot tell how many there are beyond, and may 
not all agree, but here is what another says on the 
subject: 

"There are innumerable spheres in the spirit world. 
If it were not so, progression would be a myth. 
Some tell you that there are only seven. That is be- 
cause they have no knowledge beyond that sphere. 
I do not mean a place fixed by boundaries, for 
the spheres or degrees in spirit life are only con- 
ditions and are not confined to a limited space; as 
a soul develops, it naturally arises above its sur- 
roundings and consequently experiences a change 
in its spheres or conditions." 

Impressed with the suggestion concerning Ju- 
piter and Saturn, I examined the works of the fore- 

[58] 



WHERE IS THE AFTER LIFE? 



most astronomers, and this is, in substance, what 
they say: 

Jupiter is marked with bands, more or less wide, 
more or less intense, which show perfectly near 
its equatorial region. Saturn has a number of 
what appear to be broad, flat rings surrounding 
it, but separated from it on all sides, which lie all 
in the same plane of inclination to the ecliptic. 
The inner and broader of the two belts or zones 
is the brightest near the outer part, and shades off 
toward the planet, — gradually at first, more rapidly 
afterward. Its inner portion is so dark that at 
one time it was regarded separate and called 
"Crape" or "dusty" ring. Modern telescopes 
show the inner part of this ring transparent. 

The physical constitution of the rings is un- 
like that of any other known objects in our solar 
system. They are not formed of a continuous 
mass of solid or liquid matter, but of discrete 
particles of unknown minuteness, probably widely 
separated in proportion to their individual volume, 
yet so close as to appear continuous. 

To know the location of the next plane helps one 
to appreciate conditions that exist there. Our 
finite minds can comprehend little that we have 

[59] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



not actually experienced, and so we mentally 
grope in our efforts to comprehend what is told us 
of those more advanced spheres, and must in a 
measure rely on deductive reasoning. I also have 
found that spirit people do not agree in many re- 
spects, any more than we do. Each reports ac- 
cording to his knowledge and understanding; 
therefore, each must form his own conclusions, 
based on reason. 

In order to get another expression, I read what 
I have written to Dr. David Hossack, one of the 
leaders of the spirit group with whom I worked 
so many years, and for whose statements I have 
great respect, and in reply he said: 

what appears as space about your earth is com- 
posed of ether. There are three distinct circles, 
the outer rilled with more radiant vibrations than 
those within. Beyond these, the spheres or circles 
blend with those of other planets. Each circle is 
very, very many miles in depth, according to your 
standard of measurement." 

I am much impressed with such statements, as 
they seem natural and appeal to reason. So far 
as I know, no one has heretofore attempted actu- 
ally to locate and fix the boundaries of the after 

[60] 



WHERE IS THE AFTER LIFE? 



life. Two thousand years of Christian teaching 
have not enabled a reasoning mind to form any 
definite conclusions as to where that place called 
heaven is, or concerning the conditions prevailing 
where the so-called dead reside, and it seems quite 
time that we have a scientific explanation, or at 
least a start along the road. 

When Columbus discovered the continent of North 
America, the whole world at once accepted the fact, 
changed their ideas about the earth's shape, and 
still celebrate his achievement. The psychic in- 
vestigators within the last seventy-five years have 
discovered not a continent but millions of in,* 
habited worlds, and now actually locate the planes, 
begin to understand the substances that compose 
them, and know something of the light that fills 
those zones, — achievements that transcend all dis- 
coveries of modern times. Our descriptions, so 
concise and brief, but serve as texts, however, and 
from them we must make deductions and bring 
understanding to ourselves. 

It will be noted that there is a similarity be- 
tween the circles or rings about our earth, and 
those of Jupiter and Saturn. Our astronomers 
contend that these circles or rings are not formed 

[61] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



of a continuous mass of solid or liquid substance, 
but of discrete particles of unknown minuteness, un- 
like any other visible objects in our solar system. 
These statements demonstrate that matter has 
phases or conditions not generally understood by 
earth dwellers. 

Those who have spoken — Faraday, Denton and 
Hossack, and others above quoted — are in a posi- 
tion to know something of the substance that fills 
that plane, and they all say it is ether. And what 
is ether? Our encyclopedias explain it as the 
upper, purer air; the abode of the gods. Our 
astronomers say that it is a hypothetical medium 
of extreme tenuity and elasticity, supposed to be 
diffused throughout all space. Spirit people say 
that ether is matter similar to earth substance, but 
in a very high state of vibration. According to 
them, the universe is all material, substance or 
matter in different and varying states of vibration, 
and those rings, circles or envelopes that surround 
this earth of ours are just as substantial, visible, 
real and tangible as anything we have. Those 
zones vibrate in substantially direct proportion to 
our thoughts, and may well be called the mental 
plane. 

[62] 



WHERE IS THE AFTER LIFE? 



No thoughtful person can read these statements 
from distinguished and scientific spirits without 
being impressed, and without drawing from them 
rational deductions. Beyond the visible is the true 
field of discovery. Here secrets are veiled from 
physical sight, and the mental powers, based on 
the statements of spirit people, are the only means 
available to push discovery to its ultimate. 

I know that these gentlemen made the statements 
quoted. The world counted them not only honest 
but great scientists, when they resided here. Their 
statements appear in accordance with nature's 
tendency. They are rational and I accept them, 
and, basing my opinion thereon and on other 
knowledge obtained from persons in the after life, 
I state without qualification that about this earth 
there are material concentric belts or zones, com- 
posed of ether, which become more radiant and 
higher in vibration as they extend outward. In 
these zones all the so-called dead reside and have 
their homes, where the family relation is ultimately 
restored. For the first time the local habitations 
of spirit people have been discovered and the 
spheres or zones can now be named. 



[63] 



CHAPTER VI. VOICES OF 
THE DEAD 

IN 1890, on the trial of an action before one of 
our Judges, he called me to the bench during 
an intermission, and exhibited some slates 
that purported to contain messages from dead 
people. I examined them, and laughed at the 
suggestion. This was immediately followed by a 
statement that the night before he had talked, 
voice to voice, with them. I was incensed that he 
should state such an absurd proposition; I felt 
that if communication with the dead was possible, 
it would have been known from the beginning. 
Filled with indignation, I turned and went on with 
the trial. This man stood high in the community, 
had the appearance of being sane, and I could not 
account, at the time, for what seemed to me an ir- 
rational mental condition. I am wondering 
whether or not some who read this presentation 
will not, at first, view my statements as I viewed 
those of this able judge. 

[64] 



VOICES OF THE DEAD 



It is a fact to be noted, that every man's vision, 
everyone's conception, is to him normal, and, when 
a fact is stated that is not within his experience 
or in accord with his understanding, the tendency 
is to contradict and ridicule, rather than to in- 
vestigate, weigh, and consider with an open mind, 
fairly and without prejudice. 

I did not then know that a seed had been planted 
in fertile soil, and, though I then condemned it 
and later, with all my mental powers alert, en- 
deavoured to destroy it, that the time would come 
when from actual experience I should comprehend 
the truth of such contention and should under- 
stand how it was done. My early experience pre- 
vents me from criticizing others who do not and 
cannot now accept as true what is here stated as 
a fact. Comprehension and acceptance of these 
discoveries, so beyond the average experience, 
must be of slow growth, and come from individual 
research and deductive reasoning; but it may now 
be said that there is much more known, and more 
literature on this subject, than when I commenced 
my research work. Therefore knowledge can be 
more quickly obtained. 

In my early efforts to disprove what was, to my 
[65] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



mind, a growing evil, I examined every known 
method by which it was claimed that those in the 
after life could communicate with those in this 
life. I will treat the more important methods in 
what follows. 

TABLE TIPPING 

Whenever spirit people get a message through, 
they must utilize what Crookes terms "psychic 
force." All persons do not possess it, but or- 
dinarily about one in five does. If that number 
sit about a table, with hands upon it, frequently 
spirits can intelligently answer questions by tap- 
ping or by actual movement of the table. This 
is the most primitive and, at the same time, the 
most undesirable of all methods, because of the 
difficulty of obtaining proof of identity. Spirit 
people deliberately, and sometimes mischievously, 
impersonate a person asked for, and, when this is 
discovered, doubt is cast on the genuineness of the 
manifestation. Scientific investigators do not ad- 
vise such practice. 



[66] 



VOICES OF THE DEAD 



PLANCHETTE AND OUIJA BOARD 

These can be operated only by one who likewise 
possesses psychic or mediumistic abilities. Spirit 
people, using that force in conjunction with their 
own, operate these instruments, but they are open 
to the same objections as the process above men- 
tioned and should be operated only by those who 
understand the process fully. In their use, much 
that is unreliable is obtained. This does not con- 
demn the phenomena, but lessens the value of the 
results obtained. 

SLATE WRITING 

There is no question about the genuineness of 
this phenomenon, but few possess that peculiar 
force which is needed for this purpose. When a 
psychic is found like Pierre Keeler, now of Wash- 
ington, spirits can write between slates by his aid 
with great freedom. One of my first experiments 
was with this man, at which time I received a mes- 
sage in handwriting that I recognized. I could 
not then accept what I received as in fact a mes- 
sage from the beyond. It was beyond my exper- 

[67] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



ience then, but I know now that this method, with 
an honest medium, is reliable. 

CLAIRVOYANCE— CLAIR AUDIENCE 

The first is the ability of one still in the physi- 
cal body to see, and the latter is the ability psychic- 
ally to hear, spirit people, and to tell how they 
look, who they are, and to repeat what they say. 
Usually a psychic or medium possesses both facul- 
ties. With an honest medium, spiritually and 
properly developed, this method is reliable, other- 
wise it is not. 

TRANCE 

There are two phases of this condition. The 
complete trance occurs when a spirit causes the 
body of the medium temporarily to vacate the 
physical tenement, of which for the moment it 
takes possession, using the medium's physical or- 
gans of speech. Then there is the semi-trance, 
where the medium tells what he sees, and what 
spirit people say. Communication, in this 
manner, is possible, but it is not always satisfactory 
because of the opportunity for deceit. It is under 
this guise that fortune-tellers prey on the public, 

[68] 



VOICES OF THE DEAD 



to the detriment of this philosophy and to the loss 
of the dupes who patronize them. I am told by 
my spirit friends that spirit people know no more 
of events which will occur in the future than we do ; 
therefore, the laws that prohibit fortune-telling 
by ignorant and dishonest persons are just and 
necessary. That unfortunate practice has brought 
this whole work into disrepute in the minds of many 
people, and every earnest investigator deeply 
regrets it. 

AUTOMATIC WRITING 

In the hands of a line man or woman, spiritually 
developed and honest, this method is very use- 
ful. Phases of mediumship differ, so that we sel- 
dom find a psychic that has more than one phase. 
It seems to require different psychic force for the 
different methods. There are two phases of this 
method: the first, where a person goes into a com- 
plete trance, in which case spirit people manipulate 
the hand and actually write ; the second, where the 
psychic is fully conscious; in this case the messages 
and answers to questions are suggested to, and 
heard through, his subconscious brain, dictated, 
as I dictate to my stenographer. 

[69] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



MATERIALIZATION 

Physical demonstrations are possible. Spirit 
people under certain conditions can, and do, tem- 
porarily clothe their bodies with a physical sub- 
stance, so that they are, for the moment, visible, 
and, to the touch, natural. This also requires 
the presence of a medium from whom a force or 
substance is taken, as it is taken from others pres- 
ent. 

THE DIRECT OR INDEPENDENT 
VOICE 

This is by far the most satisfactory method of 
all, for the voice is recognized, and it is easy to 
prove identity in this manner. This requires 
darkness, but so sensitive is the condition required 
the vibrations must be slower than in daylight, and, 
they are in a darkened room. In this method, the 
organs of speech of a spirit are temporarily clothed 
with physical substance taken in part from those 
present and from the psychic. The spirit group 
contribute also, and the combined substance 
blended together is precipitated on the vocal or- 
gans of the spirit person. Then the voice of a 

[70] 



VOICES OF THE DEAD 



spirit actually reaches our ears. But for this con- 
dition, though spirits might speak they would not be 
heard by one who, like myself, does not possess 
mediumistic powers. 

There are many mediums who have something 
of this ability. There are, however, only a few 
so highly developed that the voices are heard clear, 
strong and full, as in earth life. I worked many 
years improving the mediumship of Mrs. French, 
so that the voices of spirit people came full-toned. 
We succeeded in accomplishing this, and for many 
years, until the dissolution of this wonderful psy- 
chic, I talked not with a hundred but with thou- 
sands of spirits, a majority of whom, perhaps, I had 
intimately known in their earth life. It would re- 
quire many volumes to print the record obtained 
in all the years of my research work. I am not 
attempting to do so; I simply state as a fact that 
I have done these things, and explain how it is done, 
in hope that the facts will appeal to reason, 
through which all knowledge comes. I hope that 
what I write will be of such character and dignity, 
and will so appeal to the common sense of the 
public, that they will think rather than condemn. 

So mighty is the force of human thought, and so 
[71] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



delicate are the conditions of a spirit's body when 
it has taken on material in preparation for speech, 
that, by word of command, or even by thought- 
projection, I can break down conditions and pre- 
vent speech. This is why those who oppose this 
philosophy so often get negative results when they 
seek demonstration, for by their mental attitude 
or thought-conditions they make impossible the very 
thing they seek; they so intensify their thought- 
substance that spirit-people are not able to break 
into the conditions they make for the occasion. 

Each voice has individuality. When new spirits 
come for the first time and take on the con- 
dition of vocalization, there is often a similarity 
in tone quality, but this soon passes away, as they 
grow accustomed to using their voices in this way. 
The voices of those accustomed to speak never 
change, and are easily recognized. There is no 
similarity of thought or words. These differ with 
different people in that world as in this. 

The strength of the voices varies greatly. One 
of our group always speaks with sufficient volume 
to fill easily a great auditorium, and his lectures 
ring through the whole house. Another, whom I 
have in mind, always comes with great courtesy, 

[72] 



VOICES OF THE DEAD 



is careful in speech and considerate; but his voice, 
while very distinct, has no great volume. The 
voice of another, who was very near to me in earth- 
life, is as clear, strong and natural as in the days 
when we discussed this philosophy, or walked in 
the forest about the cabin, trying to come in touch 
with the principle of life; and since his going we 
have talked as much, and with as great freedom, 
as in the latter years before his going. There has 
been no subject of knowledge common to us both, 
that he ever hesitated to discuss in all its min- 
utest details. This friendship of many years is 
continued without a break, and I have enjoyed his 
presence and our talks as I never did before. 

One evening a stranger spoke, who said he was 
a physician of Philadelphia. He was brought 
in that help might be given to complete the sep- 
aration from his physical body. When he finally 
became fully conscious, he told his name, the 
number of his residence, and much about him- 
self. The papers the next morning had a full 
account of his death early the evening before. 

In the beginning, much time was wasted in 
proving the identity of strange spirits who were 
allowed to talk, and in verifying what they said 

[73] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



concerning themselves. I know that spirit-people, 
as a rule, are as prone to deceive as mortals. 
At one time, few men of my acquaintance passed 
on who did not come and speak with me; but 
later the time was devoted to obtaining 
more information concerning this new philosophy, 
that the greatest good might come to the greatest 
number. 

Hundreds, at my invitation, have partici- 
pated in the work and with me have heard differ- 
ent voices with different tones, different thoughts, 
different personalities, and at times in different 
foreign languages. 

No spirit was at liberty to come into our room 
without the invitation of the spirit-group or of 
myself, any more than a stranger would come 
into my house uninvited for social purposes. 
The same laws of privilege and hospitality which 
operate in the earth-life prevail in the spirit- 
world. 

There was opposition to this work in spirit- 
spheres in the beginning, just as it is opposed now 
in this world. Some churches exist as institu- 
tions in the after-life, and are just as jealous of 
their domination there as here. In our earliest 

[74] 



VOICES OF THE DEAD 



work these opponents often tried to prevent speech 
by interrupting and disorganizing the circle, fear- 
ing that the truth might cause loss of temporal 
as well as spiritual power both here and there. 
Great efforts were made by the spirit-group and 
ourselves to maintain conditions and keep them 
out. I recall one evening, when my stenographer 
was taking a lecture in shorthand, that a Catholic 
priest in the spirit world gained admittance. 
Such was his strength that he suddenly wrenched 
the stenographic book from the hands of the 
stenographer, and threw it with great violence 
against the wall of the room. Our group finally 
forced him out and, as he was leaving, I heard 
him say, 

'' What can one man do among so many 
millions?" 

What a privilege was mine. Night after night, 
through long years, with the aid of Emily S. 
French, I talked with thousands of the living 
dead, in my own home, and from them I learned 
all that I am telling here — learned more than I 
can ever write. 

Remember that spirit-people have the same 
inner body as when it was physically housed in 

[75] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



this earth-life, and, given the required help, can, 
and will, speak as before. If this may be said 
to be a new discovery, it is of greater importance 
than any since the dawn of civilization. 



[76] 



CHAPTER VII. MATERIALITY 
OF THE UNIVERSE 

IT is most difficult for the human mind to 
comprehend that anything which sight or 
sense does not disclose is material. The 
idea that what we call space is substantial and 
real, and composed of matter, the same as those 
things that are visible, presents a proposition diffi- 
cult of acceptance — we know so little of matter's 
physical properties. 

If those in the after life live and progress in 
a world as substantial and material as this, have 
houses and other structures and buildings, if that 
plane has forests and fields and growing grain, 
flowers, mountains, meadow lands and flowing 
streams, then that world is as substantial and real 
and composed of the same substance as this, vary- 
ing only in vibratory action. As a matter of fact, 
these two worlds or conditions now blend, one 
with the other. What we see, feel and touch, 
only clothes visible life. Through nature, as 

[77] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



we use that word, the spirit world functions and 
has temporary physical expression. This fact sci- 
ence is just coming to understand, but as yet little 
is known of the constituent parts of matter that 
fill the Universe, whether physical or spiritual. 

Heretofore matter has been known in but three 
conditions, — solid, liquid and gaseous. Sir Will- 
iam Crookes, the learned English chemist, while 
endeavouring to create a vacuum in a glass tube, 
discovered a fourth condition, which he named the 
radiant state. The atoms, freed by rarefaction, 
assume in this relative vacuum vibratory motions 
of intense and incalculable rapidity. They be- 
come flambent and produce effects of light and 
electrical radiations. This suggests a clue to most 
of the cosmic phenomena. 

Variously condensed, in its three first condi- 
tions, matter in the radiant state loses a number of 
its properties, such as density, shape, colour and 
weight; but in this new found realm, it appears 
to be more closely and intimately related to the 
force which is life. This fourth aspect is an- 
other condition which matter is susceptible of as- 
suming. The mind can picture a subtle, hyper 

[78] 



MATERIALITY OF THE UNIVERSE 



fluidic state, as superior to the radiant condition 
as the radiant is superior to the gaseous, or the 
liquid to the solid. Science will in the future 
solve this problem and find an answer to such 
age-long and formidable problems as the unity of 
substance, or the preponderating forces of the 
universe. 

Matter, in its higher and more refined vibra- 
tions, becomes a fluid of infinite suppleness and 
elasticity, by endless combinations of which all 
bodies are engendered. In its primordial essence 
— invisible, impalpable, imponderable — this fluid, 
through successive transitions, becomes ponder- 
able and capable of producing, by powerful 
condensation, those hard, opaque and weighty 
bodies which constitute the base of terrestrial 
matter. This state of cohesion is, however trans- 
itory. Matter, reascending the ladder of its trans- 
formations, can as readily be disaggregated and 
returned to its primitive fluidic state. 

All matter is composed of molecules, atoms and 
electrons. The smallest particle that can be de- 
tected by the human eye through the microscope 
is about twenty-five times larger than a molecule. 

[79] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



The molecule is composed of atoms which individ- 
ually are about one three-hundred-millionth of an 
inch in diameter, while the electron — as the ulti- 
mate subdivision of matter — has a diameter 
100,000 less than the atom. There would be 
thirty trillions of electrons to the inch, each one 
clothing life, that is force. 

It must, therefore, be admitted first of all that 
nothing we see around us is absolutely solid. A 
mass of anything, whether it is metal, rock or 
other apparently dense and solid substance, does 
not exist as such. Cohesion of particles is rela- 
tive only in porportion to weight, and each par- 
ticle of a mass is relatively distant from the 
others, allowing space for the free passage of the 
ether, light— such as the X-ray-radio energy, 
which is life expressed in substance. 

Professors Thompson and Tait say that if a drop 
of water could be magnified to the size of the 
earth, we should see the atoms about as big as 
oranges, and that electrons are about a thousand 
times smaller. Sir William Crookes, when elected 
President of the British Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science, in 1898, said in a remark- 
able address that all of the phenomena of the 

[80] 



MATERIALITY OF THE UNIVERSE 



universe are presumably continuous waves, and 

"that we have good evidence that they range from 
one vibration to two thousand trillions per second, 
thus varying in their frequency and also in their 
velocity. As a starting point," 

he said, 

"I will take a pendulum beating seconds in air. If 
I keep on doubling, I get a series of steps, as fol- 
lows: 



Starting point 
Step 1 



2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 1, 

15 32, 

20 1, 048, 

25 33, 554, 

30 1, 073, 741, 

35 34, 359, 738, 

40 1, 099, 511, 627, 

45 35, 184, 372, 088, 

50 1, 125, 899, 906, 842, 

55 36, 028, 707, 018, 963, 

58 288, 230, 376, 151, 711, 

59 576, 440, 752, 203, 423, 

61 2, 305, 763, 009, 213, 693, 

62 4, 611, 526, 018, 427, 385, 

63 9, 223, 052, 036, 854, 775, 



.. 2 

.. 4 

. . 8 
. 16 
. 32^ 
. 64 

128 

256 

512 

024 

768 J 

576 

432 

824 

368 

7767 

832'; 

624 

968 

744 

488 

952 

904 

808 



Vibrations per second 



sound 



electrical rays 

unknown 

heat-light raya 

unknown 

Roentgen, or X-rays 

radium rays 



"It will be seen by the above that at the fifth step 
from unity, at thirty-two vibrations per second, we 
reach the region where atmospheric vibration re- 
veals itself to us in sound. At 32,768 per second, 
to the average human ear, the region of sound ends. 
[81] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



After the 32nd step vibration increases rapidly, 
giving us electric waves, then light waves at an un- 
thinkable number of vibrations per second, until 
we reach the X-ray and finally, to us, the radium- 
ray. The rays of radium are the results of quin- 
tillions of vibrations per second, and are also so 
subtle that they pass through all solids. It may 
be that the X-waves and the radium waves are only 
at the threshold of the wonders of the unseen uni- 
verse. It seems to me in these rays we may have 
a possible mode of transmitting intelligence, which, 
with a few reasonable postulates, may supply a key 
to much that is obscure in physical research." 

Force, or energy, is life and is composed of 
and functions in matter on both planes. It is only 
when energy, or life, takes on a covering of gross 
material that it functions physically. Like all 
else in nature, it is indestructible. 

Energy or life is found in and functions in 
every stratum. It does not begin at the earth's 
surface nor end in the air. Life differs in every 
condition of matter — in the earth, on the earth, 
and in that vast expanse which we ignorantly 
call space. The difficulty is that we do not as 
yet understand the various conditions and con- 
stituent parts of the matter in which the uni- 

[82] 



MATERIALITY OF THE UNIVERSE 



verse is expressed and functions. Until we do, 
we can not understand how the so-called dead 
live and labour in a world material, tangible and 
real. 

The subject is perhaps the most complicated 
of any in nature. Its mystery is at present be- 
yond any man's comprehension. I but hope to 
create an interest in the subject, to set in motion 
individual thought. Others may, by research, 
work out some conception of the conditions in 
which those who have gone before live and work 
from day to day. We are coming to the conclu- 
sion that force and thought blend one with the 
other, that all are expressed in substance and are 
an expression of life force. 

Water is a transparent, inodorous and tasteless 
fluid. It is a compound substance, consisting of 
hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion of two to 
one — by weight, two parts of hydrogen to sixteen 
parts of oxygen. These are both gases. 

Atmosphere is likewise a gas, is inodorous, in- 
visible, insipid, colourless, elastic and, being sub- 
stance, is possessed of gravity. It is composed by 
volume of twenty-one parts of oxygen and seventy- 
nine of nitrogen, mixed but not chemically united. 

[83] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



From the generic rock we see matter ascending 
in its vibratory condition, step by step, to the 
earth's surface; then the water with faster move- 
ment than air; then the ether, no less substance 
than are atmosphere and water, about which as yet 
we know but little. The component parts of 
ether are not known to certainty, but that it is 
substance is admitted. Ether, as we now know, 
fills all space and is the medium of light, heat 
and sound. It not only fills space, but passes 
through all solids, so intense are its vibrations. 
It is not strange that we do not see it, for we can 
not see atmosphere. The reason we see water is 
because of its slow vibration. We do not see elec- 
tricity, except as we reduce the speed of its vibra- 
tion. Therefore, it is not strange that we are un- 
able to see ether. 

Each stratum has its form of life. The earth 
has worms and crawling things, the sea fish and 
other marine life, the air man and animal life, 
the ether spirit people — each condition, each 
environment, is natural and real, and all are ac- 
cording to the divine plan. Today our physical 
bodies have a density, substantially corresponding 

[84] 



MATERIALITY OF THE UNIVERSE 



to other substances, which limits our movements. 
Tomorrow, when the inner or etheric body emerges 
from its present housing, it will vibrate in accord 
with the finer etheric conditions, which are now in- 
visible to us. All this is as natural to spirit 
people as things of the world are to us. 

What I am trying to explain is that the uni- 
verse is substance, or matter, real and substantial. 
We are now clothed with physical substance; we 
function and work on one plane, the earth plane. 
The spirit people live and labour on another, a 
higher plane. They are separated from us, just as 
we are separated from various forms of life below 
us. This after life — Heaven, if you use that 
term — is substantial, composed of matter higher 
in vibration than the air in which we function. 
And in that vitalized, material condition, spirit 
people live just as we do, build structures of the 
varying substances, and grow things exactly as 
we do, though with greater freedom. 

In calling attention to the constituent and 
chemical properties of our material, I show how 
little we know of matter, and lead, step by step, 
thrcugh its increasing intensity and vibration, in 

[85] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



order that we may in a small measure comprehend 
the material conditions in which spirit people 
live. 

We do not comprehend that substance called 
ether, and probably will not understand it until 
we become inhabitants of that plane, but we do 
know it is a substance and reality, as people live 
and labour in surroundings as real and tangible to 
them as the earth's substance is to us. 

Another, speaking of the materiality of the 
next plane, has said: 

"Spirit ether fills the universe. It is a compound 
of two coexistent, coeternal elements, the one posi- 
tive, the other negative; one the male, the other 
the female element. These two primitive elements 
do exist, and always have existed, in union. Or- 
ganic life is an aggregation of these primitive, 
spiritual elements. The law of chemical affinity, of 
every form of cohesion, of every human desire, of 
all love and affection, is but a manifestation of the 
affinity of positive and negative spirit ether assert- 
ing itself in organic aggregations of the positive 
and negative spirit atoms. Suns and systems of 
worlds are organic evolutions of this eternal life 
element. Spirit ether fills the universe. Life per- 
meates and is inherent in all things. Nature ex- 
presses all there is of creative energy." 

[86] 



MATERIALITY OF THE UNIVERSE 



Another inhabitant of the next plane, speaking 
of matter spiritual and physical, says: 

"Our world is composed of matter as real and definite 
as your own, but that matter vibrates at a higher 
rate, consequently your undeveloped senses can have 
but little cognizance of it. And, your own sphere 
being composed of matter at a low rate of vibration, 
it is almost equally as difficult for us to manifest 
on your plane as it is for you to penetrate ours. 
Yet we have evolved from your plane, and have all 
the experience of that evolution, and it is perhaps 
easier for us to reach back and help you than it is 
for you to see forward. The principle of co-opera- 
tion between the two planes is what we desire to 
establish, for this principle of co-operation is an 
essential and necessary condition for the develop- 
ment of the consciousness from your low and stag- 
nant vibrations to those that are higher and 
healthier and more in keeping with the spirit's 
deepest longing, more in harmony with that pro- 
cess that is working for the ultimate and absolute 
destiny of the evolving spirit of man." 

How little we know, and how much there is yet 
to learn of that which we call matter or substance 
in nature; until the mentality grasps in some 
measure this subject, life beyond can not be com- 
prehended. 

[87] 



CHAPTER VIII. LIGHT IN THE 
SPIRIT WORLD 

THERE were few nights in all the years 
of my research that Dr. David Hossack 
did not address us on some subject. He 
always came with charming courtesy and great 
cordiality. His voice was low, but he spoke 
clearly and to the point. No more distinguished 
or delightful guest ever entered my home. It will 
be noted that I make no distinction in speaking 
of those who enter my home. It matters not 
whether for the moment they function in the 
spirit or in the physical plane; they are all people 
and can discuss questions, when proper conditions 
are provided, with equal freedom. During the 
period when I obtained these discourses from the 
beyond, I formed or provided the conditions re- 
quisite and necessary, as I have explained else- 
where. 

The question of light in the next world has al- 
ways interested me, and it is one of the subjects 

[88] 



LIGHT IN THE SPIRIT WORLD 



upon which I have sought information. I speak 
of Dr. Hossack, for the reason that he has given 
me the most satisfactory explanation of any. 
This was my question to him: 

"What is the character of your light, and how does 
it differ from sunlight?" 

The answer: 

"The light we have is obtained from the action of 
our minds on the atmosphere. We think light, and 
there is light. That is why people who come over 
in evil condition are in the dark; their minds are 
not competent to produce light enough for them 
to see. 

"There is greater intensity of light as we go up 
through the spheres, which comes from the blend- 
ing of the more spiritual minds. 

"Our life is merely the condition of mind which each 
one has. We create images in thought, and have 
the reality before us, just as tangible as your 
houses and buildings are to you. You do not 
have any conception of the great power and force 
there is, or may be, in thought. It dominates all 
conditions and makes us what we are. One who 
realizes this may control his destiny. 

[89] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



"Thought is a fluid, which becomes substance to us 
when once it is formed into an expression. It is 
a vibrating, living thing, and should be recognized 
as such and controlled accordingly." 

Another spirit speaks of light as follows: 

"When you speak of the sun in the spirit world, you 
mistake, for there is no such thing. There is light 
here, radiated from the atoms. Our light is very 
different from your sun. Your light is grosser 
than ours; it is unnatural to us, and, therefore, pain- 
ful to the spirit. Our light is soft, radiant and very 
brilliant. Your physical eye can never behold it; 
it is so ethereal, so beautiful, that it blends with 



But why? What natural law produces spirit 
light? If this were explained in detail, nothing 
would be left for deductive reasoning. These 
descriptions but serve to spur one on to greater 
effort, and must, of necessity, make deductions 
and partly by that process understand spirit con- 
ditions. I have ever noticed that in seeking 
knowledge of after life conditions, something is 
left for one to do if he would attain the desired 
result. This is in accordance with the oft-re- 

[90] 



LIGHT IN THE SPIRIT WORLD 

peated statement that the spirits only help others 
to help themselves. 

Another's understanding follows: 

"There is a great central force, the rays from which 
gradually lessen in their vibratory action. This 
force comes from the outside of your world, as you 
call it, and reaches the lowest ebb in the center of 
your earth. This central vibratory action is in the 
highest sphere, and is so intense and vivid that the 
aouls who are in the finest state of development are 
the only ones who come near its circle. It is the 
apex of the universe, and that is why there are lesser 
degrees as it is rayed out through infinite space. 
These vibrations of light reach the earth and all the 
other spheres, and the vibratory action of light on 
each planet depends on its distance from the seat of 
this creative or central force. 

"Some of the planets are much higher in vibratory 
action than is your earth, and if you were to go to 
them, and could still retain the earth conditions sur- 
rounding you, as usual you could not see any life be- 
cause your vibration would be so much lower. The 
need of this condition is so apparent when once one 
grasps the immensity of the universe and the har- 
mony of its laws. 

"If you were able to see all the conditions and people 
[91] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



beyond you, life would be chaos and confusion — 
each sphere mixing with another — with no regula- 
tions nor harmony anywhere. As it is, each has its 
own place in the scheme of progression, and this 
visible wall of vibratory force is the safety guard 
to continued rational living. 

"This force is life, intense, vibrating, dominant. In 
conception there is the merest touch to this ele- 
mental force; consequently, life is forwarded and 
the continuation of the species insured. It is some- 
thing discernible as a part of nature and nature is 
but an expression of this great force. 

"Those souls that progress through each step are 
slowly, but surely, becoming a part of that great 
force which is life; life itself is light, and ultimately 
individuality will be lost in the immensity of that 
great, harmonious life force and will become, in 
turn, a tiny part of the new conception in the earth 
form again. I do not mean that this is reincarna- 
tion. An atom only is needed to create life in the 
lower earth forms, and that is taken from the im- 
mense whole. This is the law of the universe. 
There seem no words to tell you, or to make you un- 
derstand clearly, the plan and purpose of creation; 
one must accept it and try to realize that one's own 
life, seemingly so important to one's self, is in real- 
ity such a little thing in the immensity of the uni- 
verse, and yet just as essential to the whole as one 
[92] 



LIGHT IN THE SPIRIT WORLD 



petal of a flower is to the perfect rose. It is a part 
of the perfect whole, and necessary. 

"Make that part that is developed by you clean and 
wholesome, and the going on will be filled with 
beauty; it will be but the going into a new country, 
among good friends and great advantages, along 
spiritual and harmonious lines. But to those who 
live in the dark and do evil and selfish things, the 
going will be along rough and stormy places and 
the helping hand hard to find." 

We know so little of light. We have always 
had the sun, but even now know little about it. 
Man first devised the torch, which not so long 
ago was all he had; then came the candle; then 
whale oil and the lamp; next petroleum assisted 
man; and, within our own time, he has invented 
the electric light, — evolution of the primitive torch. 
The ether itself is light, as is evidenced by the 
fact that the dynamo draws from the atmosphere 
this substance and condenses it. We may be- 
hold electricity, which is a physical expression of 
the ether that fills all space in the whole uni- 
verse. The more a man knows, the more he is 
willing to learn. The less a man knows, the 
more positive he is that he knows everything. 

[93] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



The question of light is a legitimate field of in- 
quiry, in which any man may make researches, 
as little has been told concerning it. The sug- 
gestion that there is light of another character 
and that life itself is the light which lights the 
spirit world, is no more startling than that made 
concerning the electric lamp a few years ago. 
There are still many things in nature that we 
do not know, with all our boasted knowledge. 

Our sun is physical. All that is visible is 
physical, but nothing physical enters the planes 
that surround this globe. As I understand, 
nothing physical is visible to spirit people un- 
less they descend into the earth or to lower spirit 
planes; then they visualize as when in the body. 
There are countless numbers of spirits also that 
for ages never rise above earth conditions nor see 
the radiance of the higher spheres. 

A great law governs spirit, as well as physical, 
sight. A beautiful, tender, loving thought radi- 
ates and goes out from the mentality in long, un- 
dulating waves. The longer the thought wave, 
the finer the thought, the higher its vibrations and 
the lighter in substance, but a selfish thought sends 
out a short wave, and, because of its deficient 

[94] 



LIGHT IN THE SPIRIT WORLD 



length, it is dark. The mind is a shuttle and is 
ever weaving about us a condition that will sur- 
round us completely on the day of our dissolution. 
If we develop our minds along fine lines, the 
thought that goes forth from the soul in the next 
life will illuminate the path of our progression, 
but if we fail to observe that law, we pay the 
penalty, for each soul furnishes all the light dis- 
cernible along its own pathway in the spheres 
beyond. 

The source of life — that is, the source of en- 
ergy — does not seem to be known by spirits. 
Only the infinite can comprehend the infinite. 
They simply know, as I gather, that there is a 
great, central source of power from which ema- 
nates the life force that finds expression in the va- 
rious places of consciousness. They know some- 
thing of conditions that exist in the plane on 
which, for the time, they live, and, just as we 
of the earth, they labour for a better understand- 
ing of nature's Wonderful laws. Our progres- 
sion to this next sphere will not change our am- 
bitions or desires, or our comprehension and vision 
— what we see will depend on the light that our 
souls will radiate. We cannot touch a button or 

[95] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



turn a switch and light our way, nor can we 
borrow a lamp. Self -effort and a clean life along 
right lines will light the way where the great 
law places us when the night comes after earth's 
fitful struggles are over. 



[96] 



CHAPTER IX. HOMES IN THE 
AFTER LIFE 

ONfE in the after life gave me a descrip- 
tion of the spirit home of a great, splen- 
did mother, builded by the labour of love 
and ceaseless charity, in the physical as well as in 
the spirit plane in which she now resides. She 
worked long and earnestly to make women under- 
stand the truth, so that they might live nearer 
to the best in nature. Here is the description as 
it was given to me : 

"Before me is the interior of a splendid home, the 
home made by a spirit, created and builded by the 
thoughts, acts and works of one who, thirty-two 
years ago, lived on the material plane. The room 
opening before me seems like pure white marble 
with loftly ceilings. Around the four sides runs 
a broad balcony supported by columns gracefully 
turned. From a point beyond the centre is a broad 
stairway curving outward; at its foot, on each side, 
are niches filled with beautiful statuary. Going up 
the stairs now, I find each step a different colour, yet 

[97] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



all blending as one. On all side9 of this upper 
gallery are windows, through which come soft rays 
of light. Opening off the sides are rooms; and, 
as I look, a door opens and a beautiful spirit comes 
out. She takes on, as she enters, the old, material 
condition that she may be recognized. She has 
reached maturity, and has a face of rare gentleness, 
the beauty of purity. She smiles as we describe 
her and her home to you. With her is a daughter 
just reaching womanhood; one that never lived the 
earth life, who was prematurely born. These 
two, drawn by the invisible bond of affection, have 
builded this home and made it rich with love. 

"Passing down the corridor now, the mother's arm 
about the daughter, they approach the other end 
of the building and descend a stairway similar to 
the first, and go out upon a broad terrace, along 
walks bordered with flowers, into the garden of 
happiness. Turning now and looking toward a 
valley, I see many trees heavy with foliage, and 
through them I behold the waters of a lake, rich as 
an emerald in colour. 

"About the vaulted room which I have described are 
many others of like material, filled with all that this 
mother loves. Books that she uses in her work are 
seen; pictures, created by acts of tenderness, adorn 
the wall. Musical instruments, unlike those of 
earth, await her spirit touch. This is a home where 

[98] 



HOMES IN THE AFTER LIFE 



girls just budding into womanhood are taught 
purity; it is a mother's home, and suggests to you 
the possibilities of spiritual surroundings. It was 
not builded in a day, but is the result of labour 
in the earth and in spheres of progression, where 
the surroundings are in harmony with spiritual 
development, the home of a good woman, builded 
by helping others." 

I said to one of my friends in the after life, 
at another time: 

"Tell me of homes of spirit people." 
In reply, he said: 

"That is a most difficult thing to do, because earth 
people expect to find everything so different, while, 
in reality, the homes here are practically the same 
as in earth life, except that there is in the advanced 
spheres no discord, no lack of harmony, nothing 
but light, beauty, music, laughter, blended with 
earnest, thoughtful study. I am describing the 
home of a spirit who has grown to know and live 
within the life-principle. There are many poor, 
struggling souls, wilfully or ignorantly looking 
down instead of upward, who are living in squalid 
huts which their deeds and thoughts in earth life 
have made for them. Very few have beautiful 
[99] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



homes ready for them when they enter spirit life, for 
most people live in such ignorance of natural laws 
that they find insufficient shelter awaiting them; but, 
the wise ones start to build by perfecting their way 
of thinking and by undoing wrongs on earth, and 
also by helping others. No actual physical touch 
is given these homes, but, as the soul grows in 
beauty of thought and deed, the home grows to 
perfection." 

I asked: 

"Are these homes as real to you as ours are to us?" 

And he replied: 

"They are the abiding places of spirits who gather 
into them the objects of beauty which they love, and 
there harmonious spirits come and go, as in earth 
life. They are as real to them as yours are to you. 
But we look at things differently; we think them, 
and the thought is expressed in waves that are 
visible and real as long as we hold the thought." 

This is no flight of imagination. Let me 
bring home the truth by an illustration. Yester- 
day I purchased a country-place, which must be 
modernized and adapted to our requirements. 
I have been thinking what changes are possible 
and what I should like. It was a mental effort 
[100] 



HOMES IN THE AFTER LIFE 



to take into consideration the situation and work 
out a plan. 'It was all done in thought. I can, 
by a mental process, see the changed approach, 
the graded lawns, the enlarged veranda, the great 
fire-place and the towering chimneys. In thought- 
vibrations these changes have already been made. 
They exist in mind, which is matter, and all that 
remains is to have the mental plans put upon 
paper and sent to the builder, who will give 
them physical expression, by constructing in 
gross matter what now exists in refined matter. 

So it is in the after life. The home and environ- 
ment are designed in thought, created in spirit- 
matter, which is also mind, and its beauty and 
grandeur are only limited by the purity and 
progression of our earth life. They do not give 
their thought physical expression; they have 
nothing physical. Those in the other life have 
limitations, as we have. We differ in our crea- 
tions only in the manner of expression. The one 
must be suitable to physical requirements, the 
other to spirit requirements; both are mental 
processes. One is expressed in gross matter, 
while the other consists of spirit matter and spirit- 
expression. 

[101] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



The next life, in its inception, is the sum-total 
of this life, nothing more. And the structure 
fashioned by our acts and deeds here, is that 
which we must inhabit when we enter the spirit 
world. 

The idea that all space is peopled and that in 
the universe there are no waste places, is startling, 
but it must appeal to our reason. The Master 
Mind, in creating, so planned that all space should 
be of use and occupied, for some purpose. The 
spirit world does not need our land, our waters, 
nor our physical atmosphere; they have their 
corresponding elements. Who shall say they cannot 
live and move in the invisible sphere about us, 
and surround themselves with thought creations? 
They live beyond and outside physical bodies, 
beyond our vision, yet with us. While their 
presence is felt by the many, it is known only by 
the few. This is the great misfortune of our so- 
called civilized world. 

Whatever of the spirit sphere we are prepared 
for when we leave the earth plane, that spiritual 
sphere we shall inhabit. Our homes will be such 
as we have made ourselves. Kindred souls 
mingle together there as they do upon earth, 
[102] 



HOMES IN THE AFTER LIFE 



sympathizing with and enjoying the society of 
one another. The homes there are as varied as 
upon earth, but each one is his own architect. 

I have never been told, and I do not compre- 
hend, just how in this life we are actually build- 
ing the homes we shall occupy in the next. Prob- 
ably it is because we can not grasp the action or 
product of thought, which never for one moment is 
inactive. Comprehension of this process will 
come some time. 

I have never been able to make clear in my 
mind just the process in and by which our thoughts 
and acts create in the after life the environment 
that they do. Take the following description: 

"One passing from the earth plane finds a home 
which, to his perception, is substantial, objective, 
familiar and real. It embodies and represents his 
thoughts, purposes and attainments, the outward 
expression of his mental, moral and spiritual self. 
That home is healthful, attractive, artistic and 
beautiful, if he has provided the requisite condi- 
tions. Whatever it is, it is home." 

In this regard, it may be noted that our thoughts 
must, and do, find expression. A thing is thought 
out before it is carried out, and if those relating 
[103] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



to the physical are builded, why not others that 
relate to spiritual conditions? This subject is 
but one of many I do not as yet understand. 
Then, again, I wonder if I fully comprehend any 
matter relating to the next life. 

There are many spheres in the spirit world. 
To some the highest spiritual life is full of activ- 
ity. No such heaven will appeal to the tired 
earth soul. He will long for some friendly 
haven of rest, and he will find it. To those in 
bondage, the after life is freedom. To the sick, 
it is health. To the cripple, it is strength and un- 
limited space in which to wander. To the tired 
labourer, it is eternity, a place without time and 
where there is no thought nor care of time. He 
will find that there is no more wear and tear nor 
fatigue for him. No matter how many journeys 
he may make, he will not feel tired and worn as 
upon earth. 

Duties there must be, where many are gathered 
together, but they are such duties as will be one's 
greatest happiness to perform. 

The more noble the soul, the more it feels the 
encumbrance of the earthly body; it is at times 
an uneven partnership — that of an immortal spirit 
[104] 



HOMES IN THE AFTER LIFE 



and an earthly body. How often the willing spirit 
is unable to keep the tired body at its many tasks, 
and what a release when dissolution takes place 
and the spirit is able to ascend higher. 

What one has gained and needs will be his 
in the spirit spheres. There is the closest love 
and quickest sympathy between the earth plane 
and the spirit world. We shall each find a differ- 
ent home, suited to our work. Our work now 
lies upon the earth plane, and it is for us to per- 
form the duties allotted to us. We may not be 
able to give to the ignorant learning, nor to the 
hungry food, but we can inspire their spirits to 
nobler, better deeds, while some one else, who is 
able, provides food and learning. Let them feel 
our love and sympathy, and let them see that, even 
if the clouds of adversity hang low over their 
heads, the soul is able to ascend to higher, better 
spheres. It is well to know that we do not travel 
the stony path of life alone, to feel that, no matter 
how rough or dark the way may grow, we can, if 
we will, stretch forth the hand and feel an answer- 
ing clasp — a clasp that makes the heart grow 
braver. The Creator seems so far away to most 
of us that, unless we can have the love and help 
[105] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



of one another, we feel lonely. It will ever be im- 
possible for the finite to grasp the infinite, but it is 
possible to help one another, and find, in so do- 
ing, something that gives us courage. 






[106] 



CHAPTER X. SPIRIT OCCUPA- 
TIONS 

AGAIN we come to a practical question: 
the occupation of the countless so-called 
dead, their daily life, and the method 
adopted to reach a higher development. If there 
be occupation, what is the average citizen quali- 
fied to do, and, in this connection, we must here 
consider qualifications. 

It is a fact to be noted from experience that 
it requires years of study and close application 
to do anything, except hand labour, well. One who 
aspires to the law must now have a fairly good 
education, if not that of a college graduate. Then 
he must enter upon four years of study, followed 
by years of practice, before he is qualified to do 
good work. It is the same with the physician, and 
all other professions. High position is gained by 
years of labour. Only when fitted is one entrusted 
with responsibilities, and the ambitious work long 
[107] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



and hard to qualify themselves for the positions 
they would occupy. This is just and proper. 

Childhood is taught, youth studies, and man- 
hood labours to qualify for the highest place which 
in life they may be called upon to occupy. It is 
a fact to be regretted that in most instances high 
positions are sought for the purpose of acquir- 
ing money, and the largest amount of money pos- 
sible. Worldly ambitions and desires relate al- 
most wholly to physical things. It may be said 
that the development of mankind, and it has been 
splendid, has been along physical lines, and the 
question may be asked, "How are men qualified 
to take up work, and what is the character of 
work in the after life, if there is work?" 

Before taking up that question, let us remem- 
ber that nothing physical passes into the spirit 
world. All the money and property acquired is, 
as we know, divided among earth people entitled 
thereto, and usually it is spent with all convenient 
speed. Litigation pertains to property, and, there 
being no physical property in the after life, the 
lawyer will have no practice. The physician and 
surgeon will have no occupation, for the reason 
that the physical bodies on which they practise are 
[108] 



SPIRIT OCCUPATIONS 



not there. The only ills are mental. Scientists 
who recognize only matter having three dimen- 
sions will not at first be qualified intelligently to 
work with spirit material that is so high in vibra- 
tion that they know little of it. 

Nature's great purpose contemplates that man- 
kind in this life should first of all develop the 
spirit, refine the inner body in which the individual 
functions, and qualify by years of effort to 
meet the conditions of all mankind, for this life 
is but a preparatory school in nature's great 
plan. 

How can we acquire spiritual riches? What 
must one do to become so developed that he may 
intelligently meet the new conditions and take 
up the work that will be required of him? 

These are questions that can be answered. The 
answer is, play fair. In every transaction do to 
others as you would have others do to you. Help 
those who are less fortunate. Scatter words of 
kindness lavishly; lend a helping hand to those in 
need; let the thought be clean and pure; do not 
teach what you do not know; do not mislead; and 
labour to understand all natural law. These 
things and such thoughts will refine and develop 
[109] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



self and qualify one to enter into the new con- 
ditions in the life to come, without shame and 
without regret. Such has been my teaching from 
those in spirit life. 

If every one knew that here and now every act 
and thought was photographed in his psychic ether, 
and that in dissolution all became visible, some at 
least would hesitate. The thought that wrong 
can be hidden gives many courage. Thought 
makes character, and in the end character is vis- 
ible. 

What have I learned of the daily life and occu- 
pation of the living dead? One long an inhabi- 
tant of the higher plane, has said: 

"We have schools here for the development of the 
soul of man, and to teach him his relation to man- 
kind; to instruct him in the wonders of creation, 
impart to him knowledge of the inhabitants of the 
numerous worlds in space, to aid man, also, in ex- 
perimenting in chemistry and all other branches of 
science, for in this life we can explore the utter- 
most extent of the universe. We also instruct in 
political economy and laws governing humanity. 
We also point out conditions and means whereby 
to help the unprogressive and helpless portion of 
mankind." 

[110] 



SPIRIT OCCUPATIONS 



Another states: 

"Again, we have more advanced schools, colleges 
and great universities of learning. The young, as 
you know, grow to maturity, and those who in earth 
life appear old at dissolution, having thrown off the 
old flesh garment, function in the fulness of 
maturity. There are here no old people — all are 
young — and age, as you use that word, depends on 
individual development. Earth people, as a rule, 
think that when they have passed through high 
school and universities, they are through with 
study. When they arrive here and appreciate that 
knowledge is the stepping stone of their pro- 
gression, they attend our temples of learning in 
great things, where more advanced teachers instruct 
them." 

Another said: 

"In the spirit world, as in your world, are numer- 
ous libraries. There men and women grow in- 
tellectually. Many books are composed and 
written in spirit spheres, and the authors endeavour 
sometimes to impress their words and wisdom upon 
the brains of some sensitive ones upon the earth 
sphere. Again, a book written by one in your 
plane is by mental activity first created in spirit 
substance. It had to be before it could be clothed 
in physical substance by you, and we have all those 

[in] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



books, as well as those wholly written by spirits, 
but none are permitted in our libraries that are not 
founded upon truth. It is interesting to see the 
vast number of spirit people thronging our 
libraries, studying the works of the more advanced 
spirits, similar to what is done in the libraries of 
earth." 

Another said: 

"We have hospitals, many of them — mental 
hospitals, where the insane, weak and mentally de- 
ficient are treated and developed, and those who 
understand that work labour to restore normal con- 
ditions, for dissolution does not restore disordered 
minds or develop mentality. 

"There are homes to build, and homes commenced 
on earth to finish; and they are as different as the 
homes of your earth. Yours are first fashioned in 
our ether, then constructed out of earth material 
by the hand of man. Ours are made out of etheric 
material and fashioned and erected by and through 
mental or, to be more correct, spirit thought. All 
this, as with you, requires effort. You may hire 
others to build earth homes, but here each builds 
his own, and many are very busy doing it. 

"You ask me to speak particularly as to the occu- 
pation of our people. It is a subject vast in ex- 
[112] 



SPIRIT OCCUPATIONS 



tent, for our labours transcend yours, though our 
methods are different. While our labour is largely 
in the mental or spirit field of action, yet you must 
remember we have fields and vegetation where 
those versed in such work find occupation. But 
it is in the more advanced field of chemistry and 
philosophy that spirit people seek to enter, and 
here millions labour to understand and compre- 
hend the laws of Nature, and how to apply them. 
It is a busy world and no drones are found, except 
in the earthbound or lowest of the spirit spheres." 

Concerning different avocations, this one said: 

"I am here in this way to try to tell you of some 
of the conditions of our world. Here we have dif : 
ferent avocations assigned to us, according to our 
needs and desires. 

"Some engage in teaching and training the intellect 
of those who need and desire such training. 

"Some with great love of children find ample op- 
portunity for the use and enjoyment of this at- 
tribute of their natures in the kindergartens for 
the many thousands of children continually ar- 
riving on these shores. 

"Some are most happy in endeavouring to assist 
[113] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



the friends of earth into higher and better con- 
ditions and in counteracting the abnormal influ- 
ences of undeveloped and misdirected spirits over 
the minds of mortals. 

"So it is that there ia work of benevolence and 
philanthropy for all who are prepared for such 
work. 

"The exercise of active philoprogenitiveness fur- 
nishes the same delightful enjoyments to the soul 
over here as with you, and greater; for here we 
more clearly discern the far-reaching consequences 
of our endeavours to do good to whomsoever is in 
need of assistance." 

Another said: 

"Let me speak of the music here, of those har- 
monious vibrations that touch the soul, that uni- 
versal appeal that is understood by all races, re- 
gardless of the languages they speak. The music 
of your world is crude, indeed, compared to celes- 
tial compositions and songs. Here we have har- 
monious vibrations, expressed in what is called 
music. It elevates the soul, and we devote much 
time to its cultivation and to instruments for its 
expression. It is all vibration. Many are occu- 
pied in this work. It is only now and then that 
our songs and our music are impressed on earth's 
sensations. 

[114] 



SPIRIT OCCUPATIONS 



"We do not devote so much time to spirit matter as 
you do to physical matter. With you it dom- 
inates your thought. With us, matter is second- 
ary, and spirit development dominates. It is so 
much more vital. 

"The coming of infants unborn, babies and children, 
requires the attention of many. Those women who 
never in earth life knew the joys of motherhood, 
find it here and do that work. While some care for 
these little ones, others teach them." 

Again, one said: 

"In the lower spheres, when those who are held 
there realize that the only way to improve their con- 
dition is by helping others, and have a genuine 
desire to help, the way is shown. 

"This question of spirit occupation is too great for 
special treatment. Occupation varies and is as 
diversified as the thoughts of men. But this you 
should know: there is work and a place for each 
new spirit. The pity of their poverty! Few have 
made any effort to find out what nature requires 
of them here; few ever gave the subject a single 
thought. And so they come, one by one, but withal 
a great crowd every hour, and only now and then 
we find a spirit that can take up and do good work; 

[115] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



the others have to be taught, even as little children 
are taught the simplest things." 

Another said: 

"Those who have led clean, fine lives, and have en- 
riched the world, come here and, without a break, 
take up their work and go on." 

I could write a volume on the occupations of 
those who have preceded us, but enough has been 
said to impress mankind that the after life is real, 
and that there we work to develop the spirit, just 
as here we labour to develop and adorn the phys- 
ical, while the spirit hungers and development is 
stayed. 

What position will the average individual oc- 
cupy when he enters the new life? What position 
has he qualified himself to fill intelligently? 
Stripped of all earthly possessions, money, goods 
and chattels gone, he has nothing left but the spirit 
clothed with kindly acts that have enriched his soul. 
If he has made the world happier and better, he 
goes radiant and glorious. 

Ideals are like stars. We shall not succeed in 
touching them with our hands, but, like the trav- 
[116] 



SPIRIT OCCUPATIONS 



eler in the desert, we take them as our guides. 
Should not the young be impressed with the fact 
that the ideal life is one that has enriched itself 
spiritually, and that material wealth is in all cases 
a secondary consideration? 

Again, one, describing conditions in the great 
beyond, says: 

"The realities of the spirit world are beyond de- 
scription. I might spend hours telling you of it 
and not reach your minds with any conception of 
its glory, its greatness, its grandeur. It is so 
vast in extent, so marvellous, that any attempt to 
give you more than a faint idea would be futile. 
Not until you get here and see for yourself can 
you have any conception of the home of the soul. 
We have our mission — to try to get knowledge 
through to the shore line of your earth. We are 
working our best to enlighten the world and pre- 
pare its people for the death change. It is our 
business to instruct those who need help, the same 
here as with you. Many thousands of your people 
cannot even read, and reach us with so limited 
mental development as to need all our energies 
in their advancement out of ignorance, wrong edu- 
cation and false religious teachings. Few on your 
earth have any idea of the changes that take place 
along the life line. As they come, we gather and 
[117] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



instruct them as you do in your schools — especially 
in your night schools, where the ignorant seek 
enlightenment." 

I am impressed with the fact that very many of 
those called learned will realize at the end that 
they are among those that need teachers, and will 
find it ncessary to attend night school in this spirit 
world. 



[118] 



CHAPTER XL POVERTY IN THE 
AFTER LIFE 

ONE who attempts to change or modify the 
thoughts, ambitions and desires of man- 
kind, is undertaking a great task. The 
American people, more than any other, are taught 
from infancy that the desired goal is wealth — ma- 
terial wealth — and, such is the prodigality of the 
times, money is necessary for the pace that is set. 
Money — the ring and shine of gold — becomes al- 
luring, and the ambition of each is for its accumu- 
lation. The length to which some go, and the things 
that some do to possess themselves of it, stag- 
ger the mind, at least of those who have a clearer 
vision. 

It is right and very proper to provide for those 
dependent, in a suitable manner; but, we owe it 
to ourselves to provide for and enrich ourselves, 
both here and hereafter. Some few gather spirit- 
ual wealth that enriches beyond this earth life — 
the many go out into the great beyond paupers. 
[119] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 

I am impressed to urge the importance of so 
living and doing that when we leave this world 
and also leave the material wealth that we have 
gathered with such great effort, we may possess a 
spiritual wealth of vastly more importance than 
stock and bonds and physical properties. This 
involves an awakening, a change of ideals, modi- 
fied ambitions, new thoughts, new hopes, and new 
desires. 

This spiritual wealth that becomes ours for all 
time, and enriches us in the great beyond, is ac- 
cumulated without great effort. It is gathered 
simply by being fair in all our dealings, just to 
all men, and by helping those less fortunate than 
ourselves. This does not necessarily contemplate 
the expenditure of money, for a kind thought, a 
generous act, a little sympathy, an encouraging 
word, sets in motion vibrations in and about us 
that become a very part of us, refine our natures, 
spiritualize our souls, and better our conditions 
both here and hereafter. 

We enrich ourselves by helping others, not by 
cheating or taking advantage of those with whom 
we have dealings. When we are unfair in a trans- 
action, get the best of another and obtain his prop- 
[120] 



POVERTY IN THE AFTER LIFE 



erty, while we may do so without violating any 
civil law, we gain no profit, for in the end the 
wrong must be undone and the property returned. 
There is a law, taught in the dawn of civilization, 
that transcends the rules of modern times. It is, 
"Do unto others what we would have them do unto 
us." And eternal justice requires compensation 
for violation of this great law. If we build about 
us crude conditions, we must expect to enter into 
the environment which our acts and thoughts have 
created. This is fair, this is justice. 

I do not speak from a religious standpoint. 
This work has nothing to do with religion of any 
kind. I am writing about facts and conditions, 
here and beyond, as I have come to know them; 
they are interwoven now and always have been and 
ever will be. Every act that we do is known here, 
and is visible and lives there, for we take them 
with us. 

Take an inventory, look the situation over 
squarely and fairly. What have you done that 
will provide food, raiment and home in the 
After Life? How have you developed? The 
idea that here and now we can and should do and 
provide all those things has not been well im- 
[121] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



pressed on the human mind. Would it not be the 
part of wisdom to give this subject a little thought, 
give half as much to the accumulation of spiritual 
as you do to material wealth, and so make happier 
and richer those who are now in the hereafter and 
ourselves and others here? 

Let me quote directly from one in the next life, 
who has given this subject thought and who speaks 
from experience. This statement should create a 
profound impression on all thinking men and 
women; it is from one who actually lives and 
labours in that place we call the After Life: 

"The majority of people are so intent on things 
material that those of a spiritual nature are either 
thrust into the background or forgotten altogether. 
This is a deplorable state of things and one which 
we earnestly desire to remedy. 

"The mere struggle to live and provide themselves 
and their dependents with what they consider the 
necessities of life, engages many folks' attention 
to the exclusion of everything else. They just 
battle on from day to day because they must, or 
else become a burden to others. Such endeavour 
in their case is right and necessary and, if it is 
carried on in a brave and hopeful spirit, it is 
greatly to be admired. 

[122] 



POVERTY IN THE AFTER LIFE 



"At the same time they would be greatly helped, 
and their burdens lightened considerably, if they 
would take time from their incessant struggle after 
material things to store up for themselves treas- 
ures of a spiritual nature. 

"Wealth of this kind is of inestimable value and well 
worth a little trouble to procure* Unlike earthly 
riches it makes life on the earth easier and pleas- 
anter for its possessor and his associates, and en- 
sures for him a happy and useful time when his 
earthly life ends and his spiritual existence begins. 

"One who has given all or nearly all of his time 
and thought to material things has so much to 
learn on arriving here, that it is a comparatively 
long time before he begins to 'find' himself suffi- 
ciently to understand and enjoy the spiritual life. 
Such an one, if he had given more time and thought 
to spiritual things during his earth life, could have 
immediately claimed his spiritual treasures — which 
would have been carefully stored up for him until 
such time as he had need of them — and he would 
have been helped and his new life made much 
easier and pleasanter by the possession of these 
riches. As it is, he has to make his way, in a 
spiritual sense, in much the same way as a penni- 
less wayfarer, on arriving in a new locality, must 
set about earning his daily bread in the material 
world. 

[123] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



"Every one knows what a handicap the lack of capital 
is in your world. Well, exactly the same thing 
applies here. Folks arriving here in the spiritually 
destitute condition before mentioned have just as 
hard, if not a harder, struggle to make their way 
in the spiritual life as any one who is left without 
means on earth. People placed in the latter condi- 
tion may and very often do receive financial 
help from friends and relatives, or societies which 
deal with that sort of thing, but there are no chari- 
table institutions here. That is to say, no spirit 
ever gets something for nothing, or without effort 
on his part. Though we older spirits can and do 
help newcomers, we cannot give them spiritual 
riches — we can only show them how they may ac- 
quire them for themselves." 

Another spirit says: 

"If newly-arrived spirits have a desire to learn how 
to make a spiritual living, so to speak, we can 
instruct them, so that in time they will become in- 
dependent and will know how to set about the 
task of amassing wealth of a spiritual nature for 
themselves. 

"Such wealth is not easily acquired, even here, but 
it is possible for any and every spirit to become 
possessed of it in time, if he only desires it suf- 
ficiently and is willing to work hard to get it. This 
[124] 



POVERTY IN THE AFTER LIFE 



may sound as if selfishness were encouraged here, 
but that is not so. Spirits can become possessed of 
the wealth here spoken of only by loving and un- 
selfish conduct toward others. They must learn 
to work gladly and without thought of reward be- 
fore they can hope to enjoy the fruits of their 
labours. 

"There must be literally 'a labour of love,' and when 
self is utterly forgotten in a desire to help others, 
great and satisfying will be their reward. No goal 
on earth is, or ever can be, so well worth striving 
after. For, after all, though it is difficult to make 
humanity realize it fully, the thing3 of the soul 
are so much more worth while, and infinitely more 
lasting, than any earthly joys and pleasures can 
possibly be." 

So little thought has been given to the necessity 
of gathering spiritual wealth to enrich us beyond 
this physical life, so little thought has also been 
given to means and method, that the question may 
fairly be asked: How is it done? 

To answer so important a question requires a 
little thought and some reasoning, for it is only 
through the avenue of reason we comprehend the 
intangible. 

Every physical act has a physical result, every 
[125] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



cause its legitimate effect. Advancing the spark 
to meet the gas, we have combustion, and the en- 
ergy released is expressed in motion visible and 
tangible. We lay one brick upon another, em- 
bedded in plaster or cement, and we build a wall. 
Everyone endeavours to have a home of his own, 
— all the result of effort, every fine spiritual act 
and thought changes the etheric condition about 
the individual. Every thought has color and is 
expressed in shade. Nature abhors stagnation; 
every hour we are improving or impoverishing our 
very selves; one cannot stand still. 

But how can individual acts enrich us in the 
after life, you ask again? There is not one law 
for the spirit world and another for the physical. 
There is one law for both, for both blend and are 
really one. Simply the one is to our present eyes 
invisible, and the other visible, because of the 
different vibrations or modes of motion. Dissolu- 
tion simply changes the plane of action. 

We illustrate. To help another with kindly 
words and suggestion, to give where hunger stalks, 
brings joy and happiness to giver and beneficiary. 
Giving of material wealth is no more important 
than words of encouragement and tender sympathy. 
[126] 



POVERTY IN THE AFTER LIFE 



The peace and comfort produced by such acts 
are reflected, and enrich us not only here but here- 
after; charity enriches the donor more than those 
to whom it is given. It has been well said that 
the only wealth one carries into the great beyond 
is that he gives away here, and it will be remem- 
bered that in the next life, where money is no 
more, the only way one can enrich himself is by 
helping others. It is well to have a good start by 
commencing here, for the only genuine happiness 
we gain now is by helping others to better their 
condition. 

We are building character every day, and, on 
the threshold of the After Life, stripped of all ma- 
terial wealth, we face the endless future, either 
rich in generous acts or paupers in a world of 
plenty. If mankind understood these conditions, 
there would be more fair dealing, less selfishness 
■ — a happier world, a richer world, a better world, 
and as we go one by one, we should meet the new 
life with the wealth of generous acts and thoughts 
and deeds. 

Thoughts are things, and every act and thought 
functions around and about us in that substance 
called ether, sometimes called the aura. That sub- 
[127] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



stance, woven of the warp and woof of an act and 
thought, envelops us now and ever will, invis- 
ible to us now but ever visible to all in the life 
that follows. With this in mind, let us pause for 
a moment and seriously consider what kind of an 
etheric garment we are weaving day by day, and 
how our spirits will appear as we approach the 
Frontiers of the After Life. Will we go with the 
consciousness of a life well spent, rich with gener- 
ous acts and kindly deeds, and, radiant with the 
soul's emanations, meet the outstretched hands 
and proudly reply to the words and songs of wel- 
come? Or shall we approach this goal with soul 
shrivelled by selfishness, lust and greed, from 
which no light of generous acts pierces the gloom? 
I have talked with many who have gone out into 
darkness of their own creation, poor and alone, 
and long have they sought for the light that ulti- 
mately comes to all that live. 



[128] 



CHAPTER XII. CHILD LIFE 
BEYOND 

DURING my many years of scientific inves- 
tigation I invited many men and women 
to witness my work, and among them 
found a few possessing the psychic force that could 
be utilized by spirit people in sending messages. 
I recall that Mrs. S. was told one night that 
her young daughter, 12 years of age, could do 
automatic writing if properly instructed. The 
trial was made. The child sat in an upholstered 
chair, with pencil and paper, which she magnetized 
by passing her hand over it for a moment, and then 
apparently she slept. It was a complete trance 
condition. After a few trials, her hand would 
write with great rapidity, and in that manner a 
conversation could be carried on with spirit people 
with great satisfaction. In this manner many evi- 
dential facts were obtained. There never was the 
slightest doubt jthat spirit people controlled her 
hand. 

[129] :k% 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



I have had similar experiences with several 
others, and there is not a particle of doubt in my 
mind, and in the minds of others who have wit- 
nessed such work, of the genuineness of automatic 
writing. 

I wish to mention Mrs. H., a lady of rare re- 
finement and great spirituality. I aided her de- 
velopment in automatic writing. She is today the 
most wonderful writer that I know — absolutely 
reliable. I make this statement after receiving 
hundreds of messages through her hand. With 
her, it is spirit suggestion. She gets the messages 
by dictation, knowing at the moment the word she 
is writing, but not the communication as a whole 
until it is read afterwards. This is a most satis- 
factory method, second only to the direct or in- 
dependent voice such as I have obtained with the 
aid of Emily S. French. 

I mention Mrs. H. and her marvellous 
powers, for the reason that I am going to append a 
series of letters from a young boy in the spirit 
world, written automatically to his sorrowing 
mother still in earth life. I hope they will com- 
fort thousands of other mothers who mourn for 
children who have gone from them. These letters 
[130] 



CHILD LIFE BEYOND 



were written from time to time in my presence and 
are authentic: 

First letter. 
"Oh Mummie, Mummie, don't cry so. It makes me 
so unhappy, and I can't make you feel my arms 
around you. If you would only smile and be 
glad, I'd be quite happy, because, dear little Mum- 
mie, I see ever so many lovely people who seem 
to be waiting to take me some place. They are all 
smiling, and talking together as they wait for me 
to be ready to go to them. One just came to me, 
a darling little girl; she says she is my baby sister, 
you told me went to heaven; she has the loveliest 
face, — it looks all shiny, as though there was a 
lamp inside her eyes. Mummie, she wants to take 
me home with her, but I just can't leave you." 

Second letter. 
"Darling, I held you so tight last night, and it seemed 
you must have felt me, for you smiled in your 
sleep and said my name. When I kissed you, be- 
cause you seemed happier, I went with Marian 
to see our home. It is a darling cottage, and every 
room is so interesting. Grandma takes care of us 
and says the house is one she built while she lived 
with us; she says she did not know it at the time, 
but she was just as happy and good and did kind 
things for people, and each kind thing helped build 
[131] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



the cottage. Some people do so much good, they 
have quite big houses, but they can't be any nicer 
than Grandma's. Hers is just filled with interesting 
things. She says she has lived in it and improved 
her mind. She said at first it was just warm and 
cozy, because she did not have an intellectual 
mind; but she has studied, and the rooms are filled 
with pretty things and books, and all sorts of 
things. When you are happier, I think I'll have 
a lovely time and learn a lot. Sister Marian's 
room is beautiful. She has lived there all her 
life, since a baby, and everything in her room is 
so beautiful and sweet." 

Third letter, 

*'Oh Mummie dear, why do you grieve so? I am 
well and could be happy, only your sad face keeps 
me wanting to be near you and comfort you. I 
saw Marian do such an interesting thing today. 
She took me to a tumble-down hut, and let me look 
in while she went in. There was a man in there, 
moaning and crying. He kept saying, 'It's so cold 
and dark, I can't see a thing.' Over and over he 
said it. 

"Marian just went to him and laid her hand on his 
eyes, which were closed. I could see that she 
was thinking, without her saying a word. It was 
very strange, yet seemed quite all right. Marian 
was thinking: 
'Dear man, you are just cold and alone, because 

[132] 



CHILD LIFE BEYOND 



'when you were on earth you never thought of any 
'one but yourself, and were so selfish and cross and 
'horrid; but you were not happy. Don't you want 
'to be happy?' 

"And the man said: 

'Yes, I want to be happy, but I can't do anything.' 

■'Then Marian said: 

"Oh dear, yes you can. Just think of some one very 
'miserable you'd like to help.' 

"And the man said: 

'Why there was my foster brother. I was so mean 

'to him; I'm sorry, — can I help him?" 

"Because he said, 'I'm sorry, I want to help,' she 
took her hand from his eyes, and he looked around 
and could see. The hut that was so dark was 
beginning to get lighter. He began to look relieved 
and happier, and begged her to show him what to 
do, and Marian said: 

'I'll take you where you can do a great deal for peo- 
ple. That is my business, to help people that 
way.' 

"Her face was wonderful when she said it. I think 
I have a splendid sister." 

Fourth letter. 

"Mummie dear, you have made me so happy, by be- 
ing cheerful. I know it will be easier all the time 
for you, because you will come to know that I 
am not miserable and only unhappy when you 
grieve. Some way, here in this life, things seem 
[133] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 

so much more real, and it is so easy to learn thing9. 
Grandma says we have to go on learning until 
we are very wise indeed, because we must try to 
be perfect, and we can't be that unless our minds 
are full of good things. I love the music, — the 
air seems to throb with it some times, and it seems 
to go so deep inside of you it becomes a part of 
you, and afterwards you feel as if you had been 
having a drink of water when very thirsty, so re- 
freshed and washed clean of everything but the 
nicest thoughts and feelings. There seems to be a 
good deal for people to do, besides learn things — 
chiefly, helping others. The very good girls, like 
Marian, just show people how to begin, and then 
they themselves have to work and help, and, more 
than all, have nice thoughts. So many people do 
not know about it here, and I am sure if they 
did they would not do lots of mean things they do, 
because it all counts against you and you have 
just that much longer to work before you can do 
all the beautiful things there are. We sing and 
dance and romp, in our recreation times, and then 
we listen to very wise people who teach us things. 
I always wanted to make things up — new machines 
and inventions — and that is what I am going to 
study for. When I know how, and have worked 
out something new and wonderful, I am to find an 
inventor and be with him a lot. In time I can 
make him think what I am thinking; then he will 
make my plans. Won't that be fun?" 

[134] 



CHILD LIFE BEYOND 



Fifth letter. 
"Darling little Mumsie, I have not talked to you for 
quite a long time, because I have been busy; but 
now that you know so much about me, and are 
feeling more contented, I can go on living here 
without worrying over you and trying to comfort 
you. You see, it's really just as though I was away 
at school, and at first one is always homesick; 
but now we can look forward to a vacation time 
when you will come to me and we shall be together 
always, and I shall have such heaps of things to 
tell you and show you. There is no wasted time 
here; waste means ignorance, and ignorance is 
almost wicked, because we should progress a little 
each day — that is one of our laws. We have to 
study these laws. I will try and tell you as well as I 
can some of them. In the first place, we must know 
what is good, and by knowing that, all the other 
laws follow easily. When we know good, we know 
that right follows, and then love and harmony and 
knowledge and power, and then progress follows 
as naturally as a flower grows in the sun. You 
will think this sounds queer from your little boy, 
that I have changed a lot; but I haven't so much, 
Mummie, — I have just grown to understand the 
real things in life, — what we all have felt inside 
of us always." 

Sixth letter, 
"Dear Mummie, I am learning many things that are 

[135] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



necessary in this life, now you are so much happier 
about me and feel so sure that everything is all 
right with me. It used to scare me, when I saw 
any one who had died; or, when I thought of being 
put in the cemetery, it seemed awful, — so lonely 
and strange; but now I know how different it is 
and wish every boy knew that dying is just like 
getting a new suit and discarding the old. The 
real you inside the new feels just the same, only 
we have to learn to think differently about most 
things. I mean, we must change some of our ideas, 
but the new ones are much nicer and make living 
here easier. I wish every one knew this before he 
came here and then no one would fear, and every- 
thing would be so nice and comfy. 

"Marian and I came to you on Christmas morning 
and kissed your dear face; you must have felt all 
our love and happiness. We will come to you like 
that often, and some day you will come and live 
with us; then you will learn so many lovely things 
we cannot some way seem to tell you. There are 
such nice people always with us, and you will love 
it just as we do< Grandma says she is happy to 
have me with her, and to tell you that she, with the 
help of friends and teachers, will bring me up to 
manhood and that you will be proud of me when 
you come. 

"Your own little boy." 

[136] 



CHILD LIFE BEYOND 



Another spirit mother described child life, as 
follows: 

"I will tell you about the home for little children 
first of all. No mother who loses a wee one need 
grieve, because she thinks the dear mite will have 
no one to love it and to soothe its small fears and 
worries. You would love to see all the happy wee 
things we have here, some of whom had a very 
sad time during their brief sojourn on earth. Not 
one single baby, out of all the millions which come 
here, ever lacks mothering. They are surrounded 
by an atmosphere of love and just grow and 
blossom, as a result of these happy conditions, 
like so many rare and beautiful flowers. The 
place where they are rings with the sound of their 
happy laughter; there is no pain or sorrow for 
them here and they have no cause for tears. They 
romp and play and do all manner of things which 
delight the heart of a child. 

"They are free to enjoy every moment, and they 
do. There are no quarrels or sulks to mar their 
happy times together. Their bright faces and 
sweet presences are a constant delight, especially to 
those folks who have always loved children. The 
men and women who were denied children on earth, 
and had always longed for them, are in their ele- 
ment when they come over and are free to lavish 
[137] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



all their love for children on these darlings. The 
children grow up in time, as they would on earth, 
but they are free from sin. They can, therefore, 
go right on helping the spirits of those who spent 
many years on earth and are not free from the 
effects of sin. These spirits need help and guid- 
ance. 

'I will now tell you about the place where the 
children come to grow up. It is a wonderful place 
and there are all sorts of lovely things they can do. 
The very tiny ones cannot play with the older 
ones any more than they can on earth. They just 
need loving arms around them and soft voices to 
soothe them. They get these always. There are 
always plenty of 'mother spirits' to look after the 
wee ones. It is the work they love and are best 
fitted for. We are all given the work we like best 
and are most capable of doing. 

"As we progress some of us are able to undertake 
more and more difficult tasks, and that phrase about 
'the joy being in the doing, not the task that is 
done,' is very true here. Most of us find a great 
joy in our work. I will tell you something about 
the doings of the older children. The toddlers are 
such darlings and would rejoice any mother's heart. 
Their faces are so bright and happy and they are 
so full of life, and bubble over with fun. There 
are no sad, wistful little faces here, — as you often 

[138] 



CHILD LIFE BEYOND 



see on earth — caused by lack of love, the sins of 
their parents, and other things. These fortunate 
little ones have a delightful time. They run and 
dance and sing and jump for sheer joy. They 
paddle in crystal streams and build castles on 
lovely beaches, where the sand is like pure gold 
and the water is like myriads of gems. 

"There are beautiful grassy places for them to play 
on, where they can run races and play all the games 
which children love. There are also exquisite fern 
groves, where every kind of beautiful fern flourishes, 
and dainty little streams tinkle gaily along, join- 
ing, it seems, in the children's merriment. There 
are so many beautiful and wonderful and delightful 
things in this enormous 'children's playground' 
that you will not have time to write down 
descriptions of half its beauties." 



[139] 



CHAPTER XIII. EARTHBOUND 

THERE were few nights during the years of 
scientific investigation that I did not talk 
with earthbound spirit people, usually 
with several, and I have learned much of their con- 
dition. 

"What creates the earthbound condition?" is the 
first question properly asked. I answer, as I have 
been answered thousands of times: 

"The lives they led, and the conditions they created 
for themselves, for as a man sows so shall he 
reap." 

The laws of nature, the laws under which we live, 
are not only fixed and definite, but eternally just. 
Thoughts are things, and every moment as they 
emanate from each individual something is added 
to his character. It is enriched or impoverished, 
and if no light emanates from it one is held at 
his dissolution within the lower planes that circle 
this globe. The selfish character, like the miser 
[140] 



EARTHBOUND 



in the "Chimes of Normandy," the cruel, the im- 
moral and wanton, the thief, the murderer, — is it 
not just that they be herded together until they 
have lived over each wrong act, lived it aright and 
made compensation, thus qualifying themselves 
for association with a finer group? The justice 
that meets human souls at the frontier is complete. 
They enter into a condition which is of their own 
creation. They find such light as they radiate, 
and no more. There is no escape in the after 
life from the consequences of things done and per- 
formed in this. In this plane, so close about the 
earth that in reality it is a part of it, the wicked, 
the malicious and base, and all those who have 
acquired no spiritual development, are held. This 
plane has various stages. Some are in total dark- 
ness, some in half light; all in all, it is at most a 
twilight zone between the spiritual and physical 
worlds. Here old appetites, thoughts and desires 
hold sway as before. In this zone a great mass of 
undeveloped people of the same general character, 
with a desire for spirituality no greater than when 
living in the physical body, remain. Their con- 
dition is much worse than in this world, for there 
is not the opportunity for reformation that there 
[141] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



was before. There the great law of attraction 
holds together those of a similar character, so that 
these live in mental poverty until they have a de- 
sire for better things. Then the way is shown and 
they work slowly out by their own efforts, but the 
labour is long and the path dim that leads to 
the zones of happiness and peace. Bruno said: 

"Whatever good a man has to his credit, whether 
it be much or little, is the seed from which he 
grows eternally." 

In my talks with earthbound spirit people I 
never found two exactly alike, any more than they 
can be found alike here. That change did not 
alter or improve them. This is evidently Hell, so 
much talked of and feared. 

I recall so many earthbound that have told of 
the horror of their condition, that it is with diffi- 
culty I choose specific individuals, for I had speech 
with such a great number. It is like seeing the 
paintings in the principal galleries of Europe. 
There are many, but some stand out prominently. 
This is the story told by one: 

"I was not a good man among men. I was selfish, 
[142] 



EARTHBOUND 



cruel, took human life, and was, as I now know, 
killed while committing a crime. When I awoke 
it was very dark, and, not knowing what had 
happened, I called in anger, but my companions 
did not come. My voice echoed back to me again 
and again, and I began to think I was in a cave. 
I arose and groped about in the darkness, but I 
could not find the walls, though I walked for 
hours. I did not feel hunger or thirst, and days 
and months passed, while I was ever searching 
for the walls that threw back the echo of my call. 
Can you imagine the sensation that you would have, 
to be lost in an open forest with the sun in the 
sky, to say nothing of being lost in darkness? My 
sensations and suffering beggar description. 

"After a very long time I saw a light, and as it 
approached I saw that it shone or radiated from 
the form of a man. 'My brother,' the man said, 
'you are in spiritual darkness; how can I help 
you?' He came and, putting forth his hands, would 
have touched me, but I was speechless and rushed 
away in fear. Thereafter when I saw a light I 
would hide, fearing I would be arrested, for at that 
time I did not know I had left my physical body. 
I became desperate, and the next time a light 
approached I waited. Coming to me, a man from 
whose body light radiated, as before, said, 'What 
do you wish?' I replied, 'I want to get out of this 
prison.' 'You are not in prison; you are dead.' I 

[143] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



cursed him for making such fool statements, and 
he was gone. 

"Again I was alone in darkness. How long this 
continued I know not, for, there heing no day, I 
could not count time. Again there came one to 
me and again I demanded that I be released from 
my prison. He calmly and kindly replied, 'You 
are not in prison; you are a spirit.' That seemed 
to me the height of absurdity, for I was very much 
alive; but I lisfehed and he told me 'that I had 
made the change' and brought another, an artist, 
who drew pictures of my youth and the faces of 
my boyhood friends, and, one by one, sketched 
those acts and deeds and wrongs that I had done. 
Then the light faded and they were gone and I was 
left alone to think. 

"When I had fully come to appreciate my condition 
and to regret the wrong done and the suffering 
caused by me, there came a desire to do what I 
could to make reparation. Then came other 
spirit people to encourage me and suggest what I 
must do to obtain spiritual growth and, with it, 
the light. Not one offered to take my burden, or 
to undo the wrong that I had done; that was for me; 
they only pointed out the way. I was told there 
were none to forgive me, except the injured; no 
saviour but himself. 

[144] 



EARTHBOUND 



"Step by step I went forward; hour by hour I made 
reparation and lived again each wrong and lived 
it right; and day by day, as you count time, I 
undid my wrong and added to the right. The way 
was long, the labour intense, but in it I found a 
happiness I had never known before. For I was 
building my character; the atom of good was 
striving for its spirituality. Now that is all be- 
hind me, and I live in the glorious and effulgent 
light of the spirit world, labouring among congenial 
souls. I was seared by the fire of selfishness and 
wrong. I paid, and paid to the last farthing, the 
penalty. Now I am at peace with all the spirit 
world, as it is with me. 

"I send this message back to the world of men: 
There is not in the universe a method by which 
'any one can escape the penalty of wrong.' Had 
I known this fact, I would have lived among you 
honestly and been fair with my fellow men. I 
did not know it, and I have paid in full, as all 
will pay in full, for ignorance will not excuse. 

"It has been a privilege to tell through you of 
my experience in the earthbound zone of the spirit 
world. If one man will hesitate when contem- 
plating a single selfish or wrong act, and turn 
from it because of better understanding, it will 
reflect upon me and better my condition." 

[145] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 

The following statement as to earthbound con- 
ditions is from another spirit: 

"The belts or zone9 that lie close around your 
earth are designed for the habitation of unde- 
veloped spirits when out of the body; as they out- 
grow the passions of earth and become more refined, 
they pass to another or higher zone. Many remain 
in the first or earth zone for years. 

"We of the higher zones try to teach them that they 
must forgive and forget the wrongs of earth and in 
that work advance out of the earthbound condition, 
but many turn a deaf ear to our suggestions and try 
to revenge the wrong done to them when on earth; 
all this is intensely human, and this zone, so like 
the physical, is very real. 

"Those who have progressed, those who in the be- 
ginning passed directly through this belt, because 
of their spirituality, would never come back into 
that atmosphere, were it not for their love for and 
desire to help humanity." 

In explanation of this condition another spirit 
said: 

"Many on leaving the mortal body are still in earthly 
conditions, found on the grosser spiritual side you 
[146] 



EARTHBOUND 



call the lower sphere, where the spiritual senses 
are not yet awakened to susceptibility of spiritual 
discernment." 

Again, one said: 

"I find a great many come from earth life in a very 
darkened condition; and, of course, they gravitate 
or are drawn to localities of corresponding condi- 
tions. They don't know just where they ought to go 
or what to do. In fact, many are ignorant of any 
other than the condition in which they find them- 
selves. Many, too many, are in a condition of 
slumbering, some in a deep sleep which lasts a long 
time, and great effort is put forth to awake such 
spirit people." 

This is the experience of another spirit: 

"I had been in the after life a number of years 
when I was taken into the lowest sphere, and what 
I saw has lingered in my memory ever since. I 
was taken by a guide accustomed to work in the 
earthbound plane. We move, as you know, with 
the rapidity of thought. My first impression was 
of a descent in the dark, all about me gloom, and to 
add to the horror I could hear voices though I 
could not see any one. After a time, when as it 
seemed, I grew accustomed to the darkness, I could 
[147] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



see people about me, poor men and women who 
did not realize they had left the physical body — 
some shrieking because they could not escape their 
victims; those they had wronged were not there, — 
it was their awakening consciousness that brought 
such vision. The guide spoke gently to them. 
Some answered with coarse jests, others with mirth- 
less laughter; but a few came close and listened 
while he told them of their condition and what 
must be done to work out of this darkness, which 
was of their own creation. We have as much trou- 
ble in making these poor spirit people understand 
conditions beyond their sight and touch, as you 
have with earth people." 

In the beginning when I talked with spirits who 
did not know they were dead, as that word is com- 
monly used, it staggered my thought. I could not 
then conceive that one could be in that condition 
and not know it. I did not then know that the 
next life was so material, so tangible, and, in the 
lower spheres, so like our own; neither did I know 
that here and now we possess an inner body, which, 
when separated from the outer flesh garment, is 
identically the same as before, with the same fea- 
ture, expression and thoughts. With the first or 
lower sphere actually blending with our world 
[148] 



EARTHBOUND 



as it does, how can those who have just gone under- 
stand their condition, if they possess no knowledge 
concerning this change? 

In the presence of such known facts, the question 
of the continuity of life no longer remains, and 
we advance to the more important proposition of 
what are the conditions the so-called dead meet 
when they cross the border. Where is the border? 
Where is the after life and what is the new envir- 
onment? These questions are vital and are being 
answered from day to day, though few ask the 
question, and of those who do ask a less number 
understand. The world is too busy getting money 
to give this subject serious thought. 

Let it not be understood that all the living dead 
are earthbound and held in such zone of darkness; 
of all that go, only a few of the many are there 
held. But let it be remembered that conditions 
in spirit planes vary as the varying characters of 
men, and that each reaches that environment for 
which his earth life has fitted him. There he 
will live until by growth he has earned a more 
advanced zone. 

The experiences of these spirits were unusual, 
terrible in severity, and possibly extreme, but they 
[149] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



are necessary to illustrate what the degenerate 
and wicked must expect. Others have told of the 
wonders and delights of the next conditions, as 
they were enabled to feel and visualize them in the 
beginning. Where spirit people are, what they 
see and enjoy, depends on just what their earth 
life earned. How many know this fact? 

The fortunate should help the unfortunate; the 
strong should defend the weak; the intellectual 
should lead with gentle hands the mental poor. 
This is the highest conception of religion in both 
worlds, and a necessary process if we would en- 
rich ourselves in either. 

A spirit has said: 

"You can have no idea of the nature and extent of 
punishment which some spirits have to undergo. 
There is no hell, nor is torture inflicted in the 
spirit world. Every one that comes brings the 
punishment with him in his own nature. When a 
spirit passes from the earth to this world, every 
trait of his natural habits, principles and passions 
is delineated on his spirit features. There can be 
no deceptions with us. 

flff You will be placed with those of similar character, 
whose natures correspond with yours. 

[150] 



EARTHBOUND 



"There is no night here, and consequently no day, 
at least not as I once measured, and as you still 
measure, time. Time here is measured only by emo- 
tions, events and deeds. There are dark places 
and darker souls, as there are on earth." 



[151] 



CHAPTER XIV. HELPING THE 
DEAD 

IN my early work I was told much that baffled 
understanding. Things which now appear 
simple, then seemed impossible. The state- 
ment that there were many in the after life who 
did not know that they had made the great change 
and were out of their physical bodies, was beyond 
my comprehension, though many whom I identified 
so stated. 

At this period of my work I had the usual in- 
definite, hazy notion that Heaven, so-called, was 
far away, that something survived dissolution, but 
what it was I had never been able even to define, 
any more than the average Christian can define it 
today. I did not then know that this inner body 
at dissolution advanced to material spirit zones 
that encircle this earth, and that those whose spirit- 
uality did not carry them into the the higher 
spheres did not for a long time get beyond the 
earthbound plane, and that many were able to go 
[152] 



HELPING THE DEAD 



in and out of our homes and offices as before, 
though they could not make us answer them or 
realize their presence. 

Some are in such a state that the helpers in 
the higher life cannot reach them, and it is only by 
uniting our forces and working together that these 
poor souls are brought to consciousness and shown 
how they can develop and progress. Those earth- 
bound ones are" the spirit people who need our 
help. 

When I state that one-half of each of the even- 
ings during all the years of my work was devoted, 
with the help of the spirit group working with me, 
to helping this class of spirits, one may get an 
idea of the great necessity for it. 

Bear in mind that Mrs. French, the psychist in 
whose presence this work was done, did not do the 
talking. She was not in a trance, but contributed 
psychic force necessary in our work. Bear in 
mind, again, that, when out of the physical hous- 
ing, spirit people have vocal and respiratory or- 
gans as in earth life, and can speak as before, be- 
ing heard by mortal ear when conditions are as 
I learned to make them. 

Usually some learned spirit spoke on some 
[153] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



phase or condition of the next life, which dis- 
course, at such times as I was able to procure the 
services of a stenographer who could write in the 
dark, was taken in shorthand. Then came what 
we called our "Mission Work." 

Thousands upon thousands of spirit people 
spoke in this work and never any two in the same 
condition or with similar ideas or experiences, for 
they were different as in this life. Many were 
awakened apparently after long periods of time; 
others were in darkness, and could not find the 
light; others did not realize that they had left the 
old earth body; others knew they had, but found 
nothing as they expected. Some had a craving 
for liquor and a desire to satisfy old appetites; 
while others came for suggestions and advance- 
ment. The procession was endless and the need 
beyond description. 

Those who are advanced in the after life are 
ever ready and anxious to help any below them, 
and they do a wonderful work. But there are 
many whom they can not reach, and it is only by 
blending their forces with ours that a condition was 
created where these poor souls could be brought 
to a realization of their condition and started to- 
[154] 



HELPING THE DEAD 



ward a higher development. Spirit people are 
not infinite ; they are limited in their sphere, as we 
are in ours, and so, for twenty -two years, we worked 
together to help earthbound spirits. It was the 
most important work I ever did, beside which all 
my professional achievements sink into obscurity 
and are as nothing. This was a real pleasure and a 
great privilege. Let me illustrate the character 
of this work. 

I was in my own home one evening, alone with 
Mrs. French. A storm had passed and there 
could be heard the low moaning wind in the great 
trees outside. It was absolutely dark in the room 
where we sat facing each other with only a small 
table between us. The discourse on the scientific 
aspect of the next state was finished; then came 
silence and expectancy. 

"I have wandered for years, searching, search- 
ing, searching," a voice distressed and low, came 
out of the darkness; "and travelled, travelled, trav- 
elled; and I have found nothing but vegetation, 
and I am so weary." Then this benighted spirit 
apparently realized that I was visible, and he 
seemed to turn toward me, and said: "I 
don't understand. I am seeking my Saviour; 

[155] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



I was told He would meet me, but I can't find Him, 
and I am lost." 

I replied: "No man is ever lost." He replied: 
"I will be lost, if I don't find my Saviour. I have 
searched so long!" 

"Did it ever occur to you that you have no 
Saviour but yourself?" I asked. "That cannot 
be," he said. "All my earth life I relied on Him 
to save me, and I must find Him," 

"Would it not be better to try to save your- 
self," I said. 

"No man can be saved except he believe in 
Christ," he answered. 

"We have no Saviour but ourselves, and until 
we understand that fact and help ourselves and 
others, we don't find a very desirable after life. 
How do you account for the fact that you have trav- 
elled so far, met no people, and seen nothing but 
vegetation?" I asked. 

"I don't know; I don't understand," he answered. 

"I know and I understand," another spirit voice 
answered. "This man lived a narrow, selfish 
Christian life, simply relying on the Bible teach- 
ings, believing that the Saviour would carry his 
burden and lead him to the great white throne, 
[156] 



HELPING THE DEAD 



and when he realized he had passed the portal of 
death his first thought was to find that Saviour that 
he had been taught to depend upon. This idea 
became an obsession and he started travelling with 
only one thought in mind. So intent was he, so 
centred was his thought, he saw nothing of the 
people or the wonders of the sphere in which he 
had advanced. He could not find what he sought, 
and he could not see or sense what he was not 
seeking. His journey will not end until he real- 
izes that he is his own saviour." 

"That is a new idea. Who is that man?" he 
asked. 

"A spirit like yourself," I answered. 

"Is what he said true?" he asked. 

"Has it not occurred to you in all this time, 
that, if your teaching were true, your Saviour would 
have met you, and has not the fact that you were 
not so met, caused you to question your belief?" 
I said in reply. 

"It has not before, but let me think. Have I 
been wrong in my belief? When I came over and 
failed to find Him, I should have questioned; but 
I did not. I thought I must search and I have 
searched so long," he said. 
[157] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



I had learned that when a spirit was really awak- 
ened in the condition we had created where the 
earth and spirit spheres blend together, friends could 
come and help. I asked: "Don't you want to stop 
travelling, and see some of your family or friends?" 

"I certainly do. If I am wrong and 
have been wasting my life, I should like to 
know it," he replied. 

"Look," I said. "It is growing light. How 
beautiful! See great throngs of people." 

He said, "They are coming toward me, men and 
women, dead men and women, but they don't 
look dead. They appear just as they did before, 
and so do I. There comes a friend who beckons 
me. May I go?" 

"Yes," I answered. "The thought that domi- 
nated you is broken and now you are free. Go with 
those who have come to help you, and they will 
show you how to help yourself." 

He was gone, then silence again, the night wind 
and the darkness; while in the room tiny non-lum- 
inous points of light appeared, and substance like 
faint clouds in a summer sky floated and visibly 
formed into indefinite shapes, * as the spirit chemist 

* Ectoplasm. 

[158] 



HELPING THE DEAD 



restored conditions to the psychic normal. Again 
the stress and the expectant speech. We could 
always feel the effort that was apparently neces- 
sary to clothe with ectoplasm a spirit's vocal or- 
gans, so that its voice would sound in our atmos- 
phere. 

"What are you trying to do?" another voice 
spoke. "I have been watching these manipula- 
tions with great interest; a gentleman told me to 
ask and I am curious." 

"This lady and myself," I replied, "come to- 
gether each week and with spirit aid create a con- 
dition where we can talk, voice to voice, with dead 
people." 

"That is positively a most absurd statement. 
The dead can't talk," he said. 

"Do you know that to be a fact?" I asked. "No," 
he answered, "I don't know it to be a fact, but if 
it were possible, I should have heard of it." 

"Have you ever heard of obtaining messages 
from departed spirit people?" I asked. "Yes," he 
said, "I have heard such claims, but never for a 
moment did I consider it worthy of the slightest 
consideration." 

"Did you ever really consider what would hap- 
pen to you in the death change?" I asked. "No, 
[159] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



that was a subject I did not care to think about. I 
have the cares of my business, which are enough," 
he replied. 

"Stop and think for a moment; where are you 
now?" I said. "I don't know; this is not my office 
and the surroundings are strange. I don't quite 
comprehend this most unusual situation. Nor do 
I recognize you or this lady," he answered. 

"Do you recall your name and recent events?" 
I asked. "Certainly," he replied, "my name 
is ... , my office . . . , and, as I recall, I 
had just concluded an important confer- 
ence; but this is neither my office nor my home. 
Where am I and how did I get here, and who are 
you? I have no recollection of meeting you or 
leaving my place of business." 

"I am Mr. Randall, and you are in my home in 
Buffalo, and this lady and myself, with the aid of 
a spirit group, talk at times with those who have 
left the physical body, just as we are now talk- 
ing to you," I replied. "I don't understand why 
you speak to me in that manner. I am not dead," 
he said. "Look at your body," I said. "I am 
looking at it. I see no change," he answered. 

"Look again. Hold up your hand to the light," 
[160] 



HELPING THE DEAD 



I said. "My God! What has happened? My 
whole body is natural but it is transparent. I can 
see through it. What does this mean?" he asked. 

"Does it not dawn on you what we are trying to 
convey? Recall your last sensation," I said. 

"I am," he replied. "I was in my office — a 
feeling of great weakness came over me. I had 
a sensation of falling, and I don't recall anything 
more, until I found myself here. Do you intend 
to convey the suggestion that I am dead? Is that 
what this talk leads to?" 

"There is no death, there are no dead," I an- 
swered. "There is only change. In dissolution 
the inner body, released from the flesh housing, 
passes to the next or spirit plane, which is as ma- 
terial and natural as the earth life, and so similar 
that in the beginning many don't realize it any 
more than you do, and I am inclined to believe 
from this talk that you never developed your 
better self to any degree, for which reason you 
don't understand what is actually being done now, 
nor the condition in which you find yourself." 

"Can it be," he replied, "that death comes with- 
out our knowing it, and that we continue to live in 
a world similar to that of the earth? It is a most 
[161] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



astounding proposition. Have I really ceased to 
live the earth life?" 

"I should infer from your statements," I an- 
swered, "that you passed out of the body suddenly, 
possibly with a stroke of apoplexy. What is the 
date?" 

"This is January 20th," he replied. 

"No," I answered. "It is April, and for three 
months you have been unconscious." 

"The suggestion stirs me beyond expression," 
he said. "Let me think. I was in good bodily 
health, as I thought, engrossed in business affairs, 
and the idea that death would come to me never 
was seriously considered, and now you tell me it 
has overtaken me, and that I am no more of earth, 
and that as a spirit I can actually talk to you still 
in the old life. I want to think it over — I am not 
fully satisfied. It would seem to me if I was a 
spirit I would meet other spirit people. Why 
don't I?" 

"Look about you again," I said. "While we 
have been talking, possibly you have not noticed 
what has taken place." 

"Why it is growing more light, and I can see 
about me many I thought dead and gone," he said; 
[162] 



HELPING THE DEAD 



"and they tell me they have come to help me out 
of darkness, teach me the laws that control in this 
sphere of life, and point out the method by which 
I can develop my spirit, which I have so long neg- 
lected. This thought and their presence over- 
whelms me, and I must have time to realize it 
all." 

"You have been awakened," I said, "and put 
in touch with those who will help you. Go with 
them and all will be well with you." 

"Good night," he said. "I thank you." 
These cases illustrate the condition in which 
some spirit people find themselves, the method em- 
ployed in bringing them to a realization of the 
change that has taken place, and something of the 
results obtained in this mission work. Volumes 
could be written from the records obtained, which 
would further show the urgent need of work of 
this character. 



[163] 



CHAPTER XV. MISSION WORK 
AGAIN 

AMONG the many thousand cases that 
came into our mission work, some teach- 
ing great lessons stand out prominently. 
There lived in my home city a few years ago a 
man of great wealth. He had reached the age 
of four-score and ten, was of unimpeachable char- 
acter and at the head of some of our largest finan- 
cial institutions, but he was close in money matters, 
very close, and saved the pennies as well as the 
dollars. I knew him intimately, for I had an 
office for some years in the same building and saw 
him frequently. He was counted a good citizen, 
but not much given to relieving distress, — such 
was the public estimation of his character. 

The day came when he passed from the world of 
men, and was soon forgotten. Five years elapsed, 
during which period I went on with my work, 
helping those whom my co-workers brought, re- 
gardless of who or what they were, for in the de- 
[164] 



MISSION WORK AGAIN 



mocracy of death wealth and worldly distinction 
are lost, and only character survives. 

I recall vividly the evening I shall describe, for 
it taught one of the greatest lessons I have ever had 
from this source. This night I was not alone with 
Mrs. French; I had as a guest Louis P. Kirchmeyer, 
who had psychic sight and could actually see spirit 
people before they spoke, as could Mrs. French. 
If a spirit was personally known, either could call 
him by name, and if I knew him well, I could 
usually recognize his voice. This condition made 
identity in such cases beyond question. 

Again, this chapel in my home where my work 
was carried on, with the non-luminous ribbon of 
light above our heads, indicated that conditions 
were favourable. There was never a night when 
we knew who would come or what we should be 
called upon to do, as much depended on our men- 
tal and physical condition, and then atmospheric 
conditions had to be considered. I seldom asked 
for any particular individual, — ours was a scien- 
tific work, and those who needed help were brought 
in after the lecture, usually. 

"It is so cold and dark," a voice came out of 
the darkness. Mr. Kirchmeyer and Mrs. French 

[165] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



both psychically saw and recognized the gentle- 
man mentioned above, and told me his name. 
After he spoke, I recognized his voice, which was 
somewhat peculiar. I had a high regard for this 
man, and, considering the lapse of five years since 
his passing on, was startled by what he said. 

"Mr. W ," I said, "I am surprised after this 

lapse of years to hear you make such a statement. 
Tell me more of your condition." 

"There is around and about me a wall of money, 
nothing but money; it shuts out the light. It is so 
dark, and wherever I go I cannot get away from 
it, around it or over it," he replied. 

"This man," said one of the spirit group who 
was helping in the work, "spent his whole life in 
accumulating money. It dominated his whole 
thought, it was all he builded, and in coming into 
this life he found only the condition he had 
created, and, never having developed his spirit, he 
sheds no light on his pathway." 

Having from experience learned how to help in 

such cases by suggestion, I said, "Mr. W , I 

think you can see light if you will look. What do 
you see?" 

[166] 



MISSION WORK AGAIN 



"It is coming," he said, "just a ray, — but wait, 
I see a highway leading away in the distance." 

"And what do you see on that highway?" I 
asked. 

"Nothing," he answered, "not a living thing." 

"Look again," I replied. 

"Yes," he said, "I now see sign boards along 
the sides as far as the eye will reach." 

"And what, if anything, is printed on those sign 
boards?" I asked. 

"I can only read on the first one the word 'char- 
ity.' What does it mean?" he said. 

"I will tell him what it means," the same spirit 
who had spoken before answered. "This man 
never thought of charity, which is the helping of 
others, either by kindly words or by material aid, 
so with all his millions of money he came into 
this world a spiritual pauper. He has now found 
the light, will realize his mis-spent life, and must 
learn what charity is. When he has practised it, 
he can read the second sign. That highway is 
his to travel; it is long, but it will ultimately lead 
him to happiness and to a wealth he has never 
known." 

[167] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



This experience teaches us that we owe some- 
thing to our fellow men, and that the more we have 
the more we owe to those less fortunate. 

The following incident occurred on another 
night, and illustrates that all who pass out are 
not earthbound, — in fact, the great majority pass 
at once to a higher spiritual plane and more com- 
prehensive life. All find just what they make for 
themselves, be it good or bad, and enter into the 
particular condition for which they are fitted. 
The power of money is no more; the only wealth 
carried beyond is that given away here. 

"My years have gone swiftly," another said, 
"since my earth friends said farewell, and I 
journeyed on. I was glad to make the change for 
myself, but regretted I could not make those left 
behind understand that I was i_ot dead and that 
it was for my good that I stepped out of the tene- 
ment of clay and put on the garb of the immortals. 
I realized at once that I was out of the body, but 
I stayed about the home for some days before I 
was taken away, when I took up the work of help- 
ing those in the lower spheres. I have been fam- 
iliar with your work for a long time, and am per- 
mitted to bring a soul that you can help. When 
[168] 



MISSION WORK AGAIN 



his vocal organs are clothed, he will speak." 
"I understand fully," another spirit said, "that 
I have left my physical body. I was fully con- 
scious when the change was taking place. My 
first thought was that I did not want a post-mortem 
of my earth body, and I was relieved when I knew 
it was not to be done. This is a beautiful world, 
in which I live, with opportunities beyond your 
conception. When earth conditions do not bind 
me, I can attend great lectures, and in temples 
of music hear celestial song. But I am bound 
to earth by the sorrow of my father and mother. 
They brood and weep, and sorrow for me as one 
dead, and that holds me like bands of steel, so 
that I can only at times do what other boys do. 
They don't understand that I am more alive than 
ever before, but until they give me happier thoughts 
my progression is stayed and I am as unhappy as 
they are. And I could be so happy and ac- 
complish so much, if they would let me go. Won't 
you go and tell them what I have said, and change 
their thoughts? Tell them that death is life bound- 
less and endless, and our sphere is filled with 
happiness. Please promise." 

I did promise, and I did go and do what I 
[169] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 

could, but human nature loves to sorrow for the 
so-called dead. 

How miraculous, how marvellous, you say, is 
this work. Not at all, it is no more marvellous 
than what you observe from day to day, and to 
which you give little thought. You plant a tiny 
seed in the dark ground, and in a little time you 
see a plant full of beautiful blossoms. You plant 
a kernel of corn and see grain reproduced. You 
note the reproduction of man himself. Do you 
suppose that the laws which do all these most 
mysterious things are not able to clothe temporarily 
a spirit body so that he can speak and be heard by 
mortal man? 

I remember how stubborn I was in the beginning 
of my pyschic investigation. For a long time I 
would not admit to myself, much less to the public, 
the conviction that was growing within me. I had 
not the capacity to comprehend these simple truths. 
Every one who walks in the woodland, stands by 
the sea, reads a book, looks at a picture, or hears 
a lecture, gets all the intellectual wealth he is 
capable of receiving, and no more. 



[170] 






GHAPTIER XVI, SPIRIT 
INFLUENCE 

HAVE spirit people any influence or control 
over our thought or action? If so, to 
what extent and by what process? 
To bring ourselves intelligently to the question, 
we must appreciate, as we have never done before, 
that those out of the physical body are people,— 
as they were before dissolution; that they live and 
inhabit material belts or zones about the earth; that 
they walk upon the city's streets; go into and out 
of homes, as freely as before; and are silent wit- 
nesses of our daily thought and action. They 
travel at will along the old highways, stay about 
the homes they built, see us and know our daily 
wants, desires and ambitions, and are familiar 
with the discords, as well as the harmonies, of our 
lives. Many become co-workers with us. I know 
the limitations of the human mind and its inability 
to grasp this simple proposition, more important 
than the accumulation of wealth, and I wish for 
[171] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



many tongues that I might speak in all of nature's 
dialects and languages. If this fact could be 
brought home to all the men and women who in- 
habit this globe, it would revolutionize the conduct 
of mankind and enrich the world. 

There are some truths that cannot be told too 
often; there are truths that, no matter how often 
told, seem to make no impression; there are some 
soils which, regardless of how perfect the seed 
or how thickly sown, give little return; and so, 
in many ways, we tell over and over again what 
follows dissolution, finding now and then a fertile 
brain. 

All knowledge is the result of suggestion, which 
may be divided into three classes— physical, mental 
and spiritual. (a) Physical suggestion is ob- 
jective. Everything we see or hear in nature makes 
its impression on our minds. Something is by 
that process suggested to our senses, and, to the 
extent that we grasp and understand, we make it 
our own and thereby increase the sum-total of our 
knowledge. One in spirit life, who has given 
many lectures, said on this subject: 

*'Come with me through the walks of life, and see 
[172] 



SPIRIT INFLUENCE 



the manner of men we can help. It is not the 
arrogant fool who says in his heart, *My way is the 
only way,' nor yet the man who weakly fears to 
trust his own instinct and vacillates falteringly be- 
tween the opinions of man; but it is the sane, quiet 
thinker, who is willing to listen to all arguments and 
to choose wisely those that appeal alike to his 
heart and brain. Such we can assist by spirit-sug- 
gestion. Without his being conscious of it, we can 
often guide his thought along the right lines, be- 
cause he is fair-minded. 

"Suggestion is one of the strong factors in the life- 
force. As you said this morning, all things have 
their power of suggestion. Does not a low saloon 
throw out its vile suggestion to all men? Whether 
this emanation entices or repels, depends upon the 
man, but its surrounding influence is felt strongly, 
and the suggestion is evil. A beautiful rural scene 
is helpful, with its suggestion of peace and har- 
monious colouring. And so it is through all 
phases of life. Hence all should seek the best, and 
unconsciously all do aspire to it." 

(b) Mental suggestion is the deduction or reason- 
ing from one known cause to its effect, by which 
something more is suggested. By this method we 
prove to ourselves facts previously unknown. An 
illustration of deductive reasoning occurs when 
[173] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



we accept the contention that "nothing in nature 
can be destroyed." From this accepted hypothesis, 
positing that the mind is a part of nature, 
just as much as the earth itself, though 
more important, we reason that the Master 
Mind which created all things has not planned 
the annihilation of its higher forms and pre- 
served the lower. To do so would be both 
unreasonable and unjust, and in nature there is 
no injustice nor unreason. Man has proved that 
it is impossible to destroy an atom. We assert, 
therefore, by the process of deductive reasoning, 
which is really the most purely mental form of 
demonstration, that a human soul can not be 
annihilated. It follows, by laws as certain as those 
pertaining to the physical, that no spirit of man 
has ever been destroyed. This we know, also 
inductively, because in company with many others 
who understand the elementary laws of vibration, 
we have talked with those who have survived the 
supposed destruction of death. The inductive 
method, then, will help to confirm the conclusions 
of the deductive on the subject. We know by 
experiment that it is possible for earth dwellers 
[174] 



SPIRIT INFLUENCE 



to communicate with those who have left the earth. 
Franklin was able to demonstrate the two methods ; 
inductively he showed that lightning and electricity 
are indentical, and, deductively, that houses may 
be protected by lightning rods. Vice versa, then, 
if spirit can be seen by induction to be identical 
with mind, deduction will enable us to conclude 
that spirits, still in the flesh, can have direct 
relations with spirits out of the flesh. 

(o) Spiritual suggestion is the method of the 
after life. With spirit people, thought is such 
a positive force, and takes such definite form and 
shape, that it is visible. Their language is a 
thought language and is as well understood among 
them as words are among us. They soon lose all 
desire for physical touch or expression, finding 
the purely mental so much more intense; and, as 
they move in and out among the people of earth 
and see when and where they can do good, they, 
by a purely mental process, suggest to us often 
what to do and what not to do. Thus the sug- 
gestion of those who have passed out of earth life 
comes to us as a moral guide, whose true origin 
many ignore because they have absolutely no 
[175] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTE& LIFE 



knowledge of what happens after dissolution. 
This form of suggestion we call intuition, impulse, 
inspiration. 

Spirit suggestion comes through our sub-con- 
scious brain. Mind, whether in or beyond the 
physical, is a positive force in nature. Spirit 
people, desiring to influence our conduct to some 
desired end, retard their mental vibrations, and, at 
the same time, ours increase until our vibrations 
and theirs pulsate more or less in harmony; then 
it is possible for them to make their thought our 
thought, and when we, guided by their suggestion, 
do some good deed with their co-operation, we 
increase in some degrees the sum of Universal 
Good. But, because those beyond the physical 
are not always spiritual, some being, on the 
contrary, of a low order of mentality and often 
depraved, with low instincts and base appetites, 
as when in the body, they, if our thoughts and 
desires are of a similar character, can reach our 
sub-conscious brains, and suggest that which will 
satisfy their desires. The results are base actions 
produced by both them and us. Man is not a 
mere automaton, but a personality, deriving his 
progression from suggestions of people both in and 
[176] 



SPIRIT INFLUENCE 



out of the body; and it is difficult, so subtle is spirit 
suggestion, to tell with any certainty whether the 
thought that preceded the act was one's own con- 
ception or that of some spirit working through one's 
brain to do good or to satisfy his own selfish de- 
sires. For this reason, one should weigh well 
what he has an impulse or desire to do. Good 
always precedes evil. First impressions are better 
than those which follow, because they are more 
spiritual. 

The whole process of thought is the result of 
suggestion, without which ideas could be neither 
formulated nor expressed. Knowledge would be 
suppressed and evolution impossible, were it not 
for suggestion. The influence of the spirit world 
is far greater than any mortal can comprehend, 
because we are unable, so faint is the line of 
demarcation, to tell the origin, or source, of any 
thought. 

In formulating this philosophy, I am unable 
to say to what extent intelligences beyond the 
physical have influenced my mind. My brain may 
have been, so to speak, a conduit of thought, and 
my hand an instrument to give physical ex- 
pression to natural laws not at present generally 

[177] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



understood by man. I can not tell; I have not 
been conscious of any suggestions; but, knowing, 
from my conversation with spirit-people, the subtle 
power of suggestion, I would not say that they 
have not had a very great influence in shaping this 
work. I have the greatest respect and love for 
many who have, voice to voice, proved their identity, 
and given me their knowledge. What they have 
taught I know; to just what extent they can influence 
our daily conduct and thought depends on their 
mental conditions and ours. It is, therefore, 
largely an unknown influence, but an important 
one, which all should understand. 

The life of spirits is intensely active and real; 
they have their work along those lines for which 
their experience in earth life has best fitted them; 
they labour where there is the greatest need, where 
most good can be done. The ignorance of those 
in the physical world on this subject is very great 
and, as a result, their condition is so inferior to 
what it might be, that spirit people, realizing the 
deplorable situation, spend much time on the earth 
plane, striving to enlighten mankind and to make 
them live better individual lives, a task which 
impedes their own progress. 
[178] 



SPIRIT INFLUENCE 



I recall listening, not many years ago, to a 
boy not more than fourteen years old, playing 
a great masterpiece on a violin, with marvellous 
technical skill. His intellect was not above the 
average, nor had he received any special artistic 
training, yet he could execute the most difficult 
music. One of our standard law books, rec- 
ognized as an authority, was written by a boy 
while at college. Fiske wrote philosophy in his 
teens. We have always had prodigies who were 
able without much education, to accomplish great 
things. But there is nothing remarkable in this, 
after all; it means only that a master in spirit is 
able either to suggest or to work through their sub- 
conscious brains. 

In some instances, like the boy violinist and 
Blind Tom, spirits take actual possession of the 
body and brain, which, for the time being, are 
used by them as an instrument to give physical 
expression to their attainments. 

What is true of the boy, is true likewise of the 
man. It is difficult, so great is the power of spirit 
minds, so fine is the line of demarcation between 
self and their suggestion, to tell, at all times, what 
is self and what is suggestion. This mind of ours 
[179] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



is like a stream having its source among the hills 
and flowing toward the sea. A thought from the 
right finds its way to the channel; another one 
comes from the left and joins the current, adding 
volume and character; and when the stream reaches 
the sea of expression, it is hard to say how much 
of it came from the original source, how much is 
our own, or how much flowed in from surrounding 
conditions. 

We hear a voice calling our name; we turn and 
listen; it suggests that some one would speak to us. 
We hesitate while the thought finds lodgment in 
the brain; and it, too, sets in action a line of 
reasoning. That thought may have been gene- 
rated by a process of reasoning, and, again, it may 
have been the suggestion of some spirit interested 
in our welfare. Spirits can call as well as those 
in the physical body. Both can be heard, the first 
by the mind itself, and the latter by the physical 
sense of hearing. And it is difficult for any one 
to say, such is the feasibility and possibility of 
spirit suggestion, whether one originates or obeys. 
Inspiration is spirit aid and suggestion, nothing 
more. 



[180] 



CHAPTER XVII. DEVELOPMENT 
THROUGH CHARITY 

CHARITY, in its general acceptation, has 
been identified with alms-giving. Spirit 
people, with their higher intelligence, 
contend that charity means giving to those in need 
our best and purest thought; and they have pointed 
out that on the earth plane it is rather a mechanical 
than a spiritual action to distribute material things 
to others. How many, when they help those in 
need, give their best thought as well as material 
aid? True, material assistance is often indis- 
pensable; but nevertheless, it should be only a 
stepping stone to something higher and nobler. 
A charitable thought, sent out and transmitted by 
waves of psychic ether, will reach many souls in 
despair; and, perhaps, lift them to higher con- 
ditions in the material as well as in the spirit 
spheres. There are persons in earth life who are 
too poor to give material aid, but who, out of the 
richness of their benevolent hearts, give that which 
[181] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



is better, more precious, more Godlike, loving 
words and kindly deeds. 

Such as these are never too tired to offer sym- 
pathy, never too weary to speak a cheery word to 
struggling neighbours. Such persons radiate 
happiness around them, and are continually send- 
ing forth the purest and best of which a soul is 
capable, and, when they go out into the after life, 
they find that the bread of thought cast upon the 
waters does return. 

It is my custom to ask of spirit people to give 
some expression of their views on subjects under 
consideration, and in reply to an inquiry about 
charity one said: 

"And the greatest of all is charity of thought, with- 
out which the utmost gifts of money become as 
pebbles in the mouths of the hungry. Think of all 
as you would have all think of you. A thought 
once born grows to its fulness, not only by the good 
done to the individual, but by its strength and good- 
ness. It circles around, and after encompassing 
many in its kind embrace, rebounds to enrich the 
originator. Cultivate the desire to think kindly of 
your fellow men. 

"Some thought dominates all actions. Those who 
[182] 



DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHARITY 

have evil thoughts are in danger of becoming evil 
themselves, though they may be unconscious of the 
fact. The mind flings out a radiance which, to 
some extent, sheds light on every avenue of life. 
If that radiance should grow feeble and your life 
selfish, you would long remain in the twilight, and 
your outlook would be limited. But, if kindness 
and true charity dominate your thoughts, the ra- 
diance will continue rich and bright till its emana- 
tions reach the boundaries of hope, and your soul 
is illumined by the crowning sun of happiness. 

'The best way to judge character is to watch the 
faces of children who turn toward men. A good 
man loves them and has patience with them, and 
they turn to him as naturally as a flower follows 
the warmth of the sun. A bad man realizes their 
helplessness, and brutally vents his malignity on 
their small defenceless heads. Such a man is not to 
be trusted in any walk of life. 

'Again be generous to those to whom nature has 
limited her gifts, for nature compensates, and the 
time will come when all shall be equal. The 
poorly equipped for earth life will more easily ac- 
quire the lessons to be learned in the next, for those 
of patience and humility are learned already. 
Those who think differently are to be enlightened, 
not censured or ridiculed, for all who understand 
this truth of life's progression are entrusted with 

[183] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



the great responsibility of teaching all who can un- 
derstand; and you must get as close as possible tq 
the lives of others, that your words may have weight. 

"Let your hearts be fallow ground, plant therein 
the seeds of love, charity and purity; nourish them 
daily with the clear water of tenderness; and you 
will have a wonderful garden filled with fragrance 
and white with blossoms, and your life will become 
a part of the great life principle." 

A spirit, well known when in earth life, said 
one evening to a gentleman who worked with me, 
and who helped obtain the information now given 
the public: 

"The intense satisfaction that is the constant result 
of right doing, based on honest purpose, is, in itself, 
sufficient reward for action. Of all the trite sayings 
of the Bible, the one that reads, 'What shall it 
'profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, 
'and yet lose his own soul?' is one with the greatest 
meaning. 

"Wealth brings many opportunities for good and fox 
evil; in fact, there are more for the latter than for 
the former, as the besetting sin of mortal man is 
selfishness and the possession of great riches allows 
free expression of that greatest of all sources of 
[184] 






DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHARITY 

trouble. The true and full meaning of the word 
'selfishness' is in every way opposite to the most 
beautiful word in your language, 'charity.' Shorn 
of their meaning, as applied to money, they are 
the negative and positive of man's character. The 
fullest opportunity of giving expression to these two 
opposite words comes with the possession of great 
wealth. The understanding of the full meaning of 
these two words is the truest index of a man's char- 
acter. The ability to make one's life the embodi- 
ment of that wonderful word 'charity,' and to under- 
stand that other word 'selfishness' so as to avoid it, 
is the true test of mortal man's ability to control 
himself. 

"Self-control is man's perfect condition. To know 
charity and practise its meaning; to know selfish- 
ness and keep it from you; this is self-control. This 
state of existence is as near perfection as the earth- 
tied mortal can hope to get. You have been chosen 
one among many on your side of life to bring cer- 
tain great truths to the people of the world. In 
advance of time, you are to be prepared for the 
time of your usefulness, and this is one of the mo- 
ments of laying before you certain truths. To 
teach the truth, the teacher must be truthful; to 
induce others to accept pure and honest prin- 
ciples, the teacher must be pure and honest him- 
self; to set certain facts before others, the teacher 
must be above criticism. 

[185] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



"You may honestly atone for those things that have 
so far occurred in your life, by making amends to 
those to whom you are indebted. So far as the 
errors of your past life are concerned, you have 
well and strongly conquered their chief cause, and 
you need no longer fear them. You have hence- 
forth no excuse to do otherwise than follow the 
honourable and ennobling instincts of your nature. 
Guard well your actions, that they may not be open 
to criticism from others; and particularly from 
the one of all others from whom you cannot 
escape, — your own self. You have been, and you 
are being, weighed in the balance; and so much is 
expected of you, that you must not be found want- 
ing. 

"Remember that wealth brings the opportunity to 
give expression to what is best in your nature, and 
that you will find the only reward for doing good in 
that intense feeling of satisfaction that can come 
only as the result of a good deed, unselfishly done. 
It is well that man should earn his daily bread. It 
is the intention of nature that every mortal should 
struggle, for by no other means can he progress in 
the scale of being. This being so, one so situated 
that he can live without a proper exertion on his 
part, is unfortunate. Never forget this principle; 
the waste of money is not charity, but foolishness. 
You will find many practical ways to do good and to 
[186] 



DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHARITY 

do it in the right way. A clean tenant demands a 
clean habitation. A pure heart and a pure mind 
are the results of your own efforts so to keep them. 

"Charity is not a formula; it is thought, clothed 
with a kind act. Cultivate charity in judging 
others; try to draw out the latent good in them, 
rather than to discover the hidden evil. We must 
do this if we would rise to the full glory of our 
privilege, to the dignity of true living, to the 
supreme charity of the world." 



[187] 



CHAPTER XVIII. FRAGMENTS 

NOTWITHSTANDING the many years of 
this research, we were always careful to 
utilize our strength to the best possible 
advantage. Little time was spent with tests and 
personalities, none with frivolities. It was a 
dignified, scientific work, wherein we sought knowl- 
edge to the utmost. 

At times there would come concrete and definite 
statements with great rapidity and of tremendous 
import. It seemed as if the group of spirit people 
wanted to say as much as possible in the fewest 
words. Frequently I asked slower speech, so that 
my stenographer might get the statements correctly, 
and I recall being told: 

"that it was impossible at times to slow the message; 
when conditions were right they had to send them 
through or lose the opportunity." 

I have gathered from my records short, terse 
statements from various communications received 
[188] 



FRAGMENTS 



from those in the after life, some beyond worldly 
teaching, that seem worthy of publication. The 
following are but a few of thousands, mere frag- 
ments of spirit philosophy: 

"Force wherever found or how expressed, is life." 

"Each change in spirit existence is partly hidden 
from the plane below, because the conditions of 
each change make it best for the soul to fit itself 
for progression without absolute knowledge of the 
next step." 

"When the intellect ceases to be enslaved, the body 
becomes free." 

"The supreme need of each man is to reason and to 
remain, ever after, true to his convictions. Where 
reason leads, each should follow publicly and 
openly. This is the highest conception of duty." 

"Man's conscience is his judgment seat, and repa- 
ration for wrong cannot begin too soon. Love for 
humanity is the basis upon which mankind must 
stand to gain ultimate good. Brood well upon that 
with which you store your mind. Each grain of 
knowledge will grow and bear its fruit." 

"Dissolution is simply the throwing aside of the 
physical garment, the outer covering composed of 

[189] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



flesh compounds, whereupon the individual be- 
comes an inhabitant of another sphere of useful- 
ness, differing only in its intensity." 

"Inhabitants of this material world cannot see the 
spirit form while in the body; neither can they 
see it when separated from the body." 

"All life has intelligence; all intelligence has lan- 
guage; all language, expression." 

"One who does right and has the courage of his 
convictions, will find in the after life a radiant 
happiness, and the censure of this little world will 
fail to sting." 

"A thought born in your mind is for good or evil, 
a thing to be reckoned with again in the after life, 
when it will confront you face to face, and claim 
you as its author." 

"Do you not think that the great intelligence that 
planned millions of worlds, and made them move 
with perfect harmony and precision, that peopled 
them, that fixed and marked each one's course, and 
lighted its pathway in infinite space, knows what is 
best?" 

"At dissolution, each sense is quickened, and all 
that fills space is visible to the spiritual senses and 

[190] 



FRAGMENTS 



tangible to spiritual touch and brain. Space must 
then take form, substance and reality, — a world of 
thought, boundless and endless." 

"The rains will come when they are timed. They 
will replenish the green of the harvest and make 
it richer. The storms of life may beat upon you, 
but you will find they only break down the dead 
branches, and you will be more straight and fair 
for their passing." 

"All about this material world there exists actually 
the psychic or spiritual universe, more active and 
real than this, peopled with all the countless dead, 
who, no longer burdened with a physical body, 
move at will within the boundaries of their sphere, 
in what appears as space to mortal man." 

"In the kingdom of the mind there can be no per- 
sonal dictation; there is no God but universal good; 
no SavioUr but oneself; no trinity but matter, force 
and mind." 

"Life beyond the grave is the promise that hope has 
ever whispered to all who have lived." 

"The sovereignty of the individual must be gained 
by effort. The weak must be taught; the strongest 
at some time must bend and obey." 

"To every mortal who thinks rightly, Nature's laws 
become natural laws." 



[191] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



"Dissolution is a step in evolution, and involves no 
mental change, adding nothing, subtracting nothing, 
but simply increasing the opportunities for obser- 
vation and learning." 

"Men who deny to others the right of public speech 
are not qualified for speech themselves." 

"If you would impress your thought on others, and 
spread the truth, make that thought the highest ex- 
pression of truth." 

"Make yourself attuned to the most harmonious 
vibrations, so that your impulses will be good, and 
then obey them. They are apt to be the suggestions 
of a fellow-soul working out his salvation." 

"Mind is the aggregate of all thoughts. Mind is the 
universal thought. As a drop of water signifies but 
one infinitesimal part of the great ocean, so a 
thought is but one infinitesimal part of the great 
ocean of mind." 

"Deeds are thoughts grown to maturity, and yet a 
thought unspoken or unlived, will exist through 
all the ages, as though expressed." 

"Everything is governed by law; nothing happens by 
chance; cause and effect are as potent in the spirit 
plane as in the earth plane." 
[192] 



FRAGMENTS 



"There are sounds that our ears have never heard; 
there is light that our physical eyes can never see; 
there is an invisible world filled with people that 
few have ever imagined." 

"Life would be but a futile thing, and all effort 
useless, if the future did not stretch before us, 
endless and unlimited in its possibilities." 

"The justice that meets the naked soul, on the thresh- 
old of its spirit life, is terrible in its completeness." 

"The tendency of all life, wheresoever found or 
howsoever clothed, is to perfect, improve, increase 
and extend its sphere of usefulness. This is evolu- 
tion. It is a fact, a law and not a theory, and its 
possibilities are as boundless as the imagination." 

"The atom, alone, has eternal duration of form, for 
it alone has the power to enter and dominate all 
other forms. It has no master except force, and to 
force alone is it amenable." 

"The wealth that all in this physical world should 
seek, has not the ring of gold; it is gathered by 
right living and by helping others to live right." 

"It is far better to have committed an honest error 
and reaped no profit, than to have great profit and 
to have honesty gone from your own heart." 
[193] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



"Selfishness in the human heart is the cause of all 
evil; where selfishness dwells, love can not abide. 
Selfishness and love can not occupy the same place 
at the same time." 

"An atom from the great ocean of spirit finds 
lodgment in a physical organism — and behold, a 
man!" 

"Mortal needs spirit suggestion, but spirits indeed 
of mortal thought have just as great a need." 

"Life enough is given to rule each day in our king* 
dom, but not enough 'for tomorrow.' " 

"Wisdom is born in the soul of man when he 
recognizes that natural law governs and accounts 
for all things." 

"If a man is clean, he feels clean, and keeping clean 
inspires him to clean deeds." 

"Wisdom, power, beneficence, and the peace that 
passeth all understanding — these come not from 
above, but from within." 

"If a man can make himself habitually right in his 
thought and desire, right in his will and purpose, 
he must become right in the tissues built up out 
of the mind's action." 

[194] 



FRAGMENTS 



"Power is born of desire; no man can earnestly 
desire to live upon a high plane and yet be com- 
pelled to live upon a low plane, since we live in 
that state of development that we create for our- 
selves." 

"Every life is placed exactly where it should be, 
and is in touch with the environment needed at that 
hour to unfold itself." 

"It is thought that builds the body. Thought is 
food, thought is force — the motor power, by means 
of which the soul expresses itself in physical form." 



[195] 



CHAPTER XIX. INTELLECTUAL 
PROGRESS 



A 



T the funeral of John G. Mills on April 
15, 1883, Robert G. Ingersoll, the great 
agnostic said: 



"Again we stand face to face with the great mystery 
that shrouds the world. We question, but there is 
no reply. Out on the wide waste seas, there drifts 
no spar. Over the desert of death the Sphinx gazes 
forever, but does not speak. All wish for happiness 
beyond this life, all hope to meet again the loved 
and lost. Immortality is a word that Hope through 
all the ages has been whispering to Love. The 
mystery of life and death, we cannot understand. 
The golden bridge of life from gloom emerges, and 
on shadow rests. Beyond this we do not know. 
Fate is speechless, destiny is dumb, and the secret 
of the future has never yet been told. We love, 
we wait, we hope. 

"What can we say of death? What can we say of 
the dead? Where they have gone, reason can not 
go, and from thence revelation has not come." 

This is a fair statement by a fair man of the 
[196] 



INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS 



general understanding of that subject at that time. 

Since those words were uttered, more progress 
has been made than in the thousand years prior 
to that time. The telephone has come into 
practical use, the automobile has displaced the 
horse, electricity lights the world and propels our 
engines and cars. The human voice is heard across 
the continent and over the ocean. We navigate 
the air, and ships call to each other over the waters 
for help when in distress. Progress has not been 
confined to things physical. Within that time we 
have also come to know what that change called 
death is, and are able to comprehend the process 
involved and to explain it scientifically. Its 
mystery, like all other mysteries, disappears 
when the simple natural law is understood. 
Earnest men have called and questioned, the dead 
have answered, and life and death is, in a measure, 
understood. We find there is no golden bridge, 
no dark stream, to cross; all life is one on different 
planes. 

Where the so-called dead have gone, reason has 

now followed, and the revelation has come from 

those who live and labour beyond our vision and 

touch. We now know what physical change takes 

[197] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



place at the time of dissolution, and, when con- 
ditions are properly met, we now may talk with 
those who seem to have left us, voice to voice. 

This is not the discovery of any one man. For 
the last decade and more, great thinkers have de- 
voted their thought and energy to discover what 
before was a mystery, and have had the courage to 
give the world the result of their scientific investi- 
gations. More has been written on this subject in 
the last twenty years than on perhaps any other, 
but only a small percentage of those classed as 
thinkers know it — only those who think for them- 
selves read this class of literature. The great 
majority never give this subject a thought and do 
not want to know, though it is of more vital import- 
ance than any other matter. Some there are 
who face the east and sincerely welcome the light; 
others stand with their backs to the sunrise and 
worship the sunset of the day before. 

Among well known scholars who stand for this 
great truth may be mentioned Wallace, Crookes, 
Rear-Admiral Moore, Stead, Lodge and Doyle, of 
England; Richet, of France; Lombroso, of Italy; 
Stanford, of Australia; Wu Ting Tang, of China; 
Carrington, Funk and Professor Hyslop, of 
[198] 



INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS 



America. All these have written on their indi- 
vidual discoveries, based on evidential facts. This 
field has been fully covered. The continuity of 
life has been proved and as well established as 
any other fact in nature. But these facts and 
incidents are so out of the ordinary that the human 
mind has difficulty in grasping them. It is diffi- 
cult to comprehend what one has not actually ex- 
perienced. 

I do not intend to make this presentation 
technically evidential, except as the incidents re- 
lated and the source of my knowledge carry con- 
viction. I want to come to the public through the 
valley of reason, so to present my facts 
that they appeal to all, for when they are found 
reasonable and in accordance with nature's law 
and purpose, they will be accepted. They must 
be accepted, for the facts have been gathered from 
those who are now in the after life; and who can 
better describe what death, so-called, is than those 
who have passed through it? Who can better ex- 
plain the conditions under which they live, and the 
place, than men of earth who now live there? 

I was able to do this work, because of the assist- 
ance of Emily S. French, then the world's finest 
[199] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



voice psychic, who gave the latter years of her life 
to this work and to me, without money and without 
price. She was so deaf that she seldom heard 
the spirit voices, and during the latter years frail 
and blind; but in her presence the dead spoke, 
and all within sound of spirit voices could hear 
as well as I could, and hundreds at my invitation 
did so. 

Interest in this subject has grown tremendously 
of late years. There are circles of investigators 
in almost every town and city, as well as in many 
private homes. In this manner the work is carried 
forward. 

It has been my privilege to talk with Ingersoll, 
from whose speech I have quoted, on many 
occasions. I have heard his spirit voice ring with 
the volume of his earlier years. His eloquence 
no man ever equalled. He established identity 
and told of his work in the after life, as well as of 
his mission in this, which was to arouse and make 
people think. He is doing the same work now, 
only with greater understanding, and, because of 
this privilege and because of his answer to the 
doubts he expressed, I quote from his speech. He 
has answered all the questions he asked when here, 
[200] 



INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS 



and in these chapters, though I seldom use names, 
are various statements made by him as to conditions 
which he finds in that life. 

With all my research and opportunity, I have 
come to know just a little of the conditions in and 
along the Frontier. Ages will be required to come 
into full knowledge. Nature puts before our eyes 
more than we can see, in our ears more than we 
can hear, and to the mind more than it can com- 
prehend. We gather what we sow, gain what we 
work for, and have no right to expect something 
for nothing. We can not get knowledge without 
study, understanding without thinking, but right 
thinking slowly and surely brings knowledge. 
What I hope to do is to set in motion a line of 
reasoning, based on the facts that I have stated, 
which will appeal to all who read this work, and 
through such process and original research, lead 
to understanding. Then shall we do those things 
that will enrich beyond the grave, and enable one 
to enter the new life with dignity and credit. In 
view of the progress in knowledge that has been 
made in this field, it is not unreasonable for me 
to hope to do this. 

The thinking mind should not require proof 
[201] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



of survival. We know nothing can be destroyed, 
as nothing in nature ever has been. The idea 
that man can be annihilated, when a clod of earth 
can not be, is preposterous. The thinker should 
start with the proposition that man survives, and 
then bend his efforts to know in what invisible plane 
he functions. It is really not a question of whether 
life continues, but where and how. Darwin, fore- 
most among naturalists, Wagner, the greatest of 
composers, Hugo, poet and patriot, Huxley and 
Faraday, among the scientists, Chopin, Mendels- 
sohn, Mozart, Beethoven, Paganini, Verdi and 
Liszt, among the musicians, Gladstone, Lincoln 
and Roosevelt, the world's great statesmen, are not 
dead. These mighty rivers of intellectual thought 
and beauty have not ceased to flow, for in death 
they reach the sea. In other fields of opportunity 
these great minds labour on — such individualities 
can never die; this earth life but prepared them 
for a greater work. How absurd, too, for one to 
think that the Master Intelligence, working through 
nature would produce such great souls and then, 
just in the fulness of their mentality, destroy them. 
It seems almost presumption for me to undertake 
to prove continuity, so certain to the thinking mind. 
[202] 



INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS 



The only justification I can find is in the fact that 
this whole subject has been given little considera- 
tion by the many and is, therefore, little known. 
In making this presentation, I recognize no distinc- 
tion among men. It is equally important that 
the non-thinker should understand what earth life 
leads to, as it is for the intellectual. In the de- 
mocracy of death, only spirituality counts. 

When we look up into the sky, and see nothing 
between us and the stars, we are really looking 
through a realm as rich in detail as the landscape 
we can see on a fine day from a mountain top. 
This region is inhabited by myriads of the human 
family, among them many we have loved and lost 
and will rejoin in due time. And this is not guess- 
work nor metaphysical speculation — but the definite 
result of observation, as scientific in character as 
that concerned with astronomy or spectroscopic 
analysis. 



[203] 



CHAPTER XX. LOOKING INTO 
THE FUTURE 



T 



* *T I ^HE Book is made." At a dinner given by 
the Buffalo Bar Association, these words 
fell from the lips of its guest of honour, 
one of the most distinguished lawyers in America. 
It was a notable gathering. He had returned from 
a larger field of endeavour, rich in worldly goods. 
His career had been remarkable. In the fulness 
of his success, with a record of seventy years be- 
hind him, he had come back for a day to meet 
those whom he knew in other times. 

This man, generous to a fault, friendly in 
manner, ever ready to serve the public good, candid 
and masterful in speech, a great citizen, intel- 
lectually honest, thoroughly informed in worldly 
affairs, but without a particle of knowledge beyond 
this world of men, having all the glory that could 
come from professional life, seeing nothing beyond, 
sadly said, to that eager group that came to do him 
honour, "The Book is made." 
[204] 



LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE 



This great mind, engrossed in the affairs of the 
present, like the great majority of mankind, had 
not had time to inquire, much less to learn, what 
this life leads to. 

Knowing nothing of a future, he felt his life 
work was finished. It was December; the sun 
was so low that the shadows fell in front, and his 
thoughts went back in memory to dreams of youth. 
Had he known that all his years of labor but 
prepared him for a life of more intense reality, 
following upon the heels of this, he would have 
said: 

"The foreword has been written, and in the great 
beyond I will write the book in acts and kindly 
deeds." 

We, who have come in touch with life in the 
great beyond, look with a sorrow that words can- 
not express upon those who neither know nor care; 
and those who fear what they call death we would 
lead from darkness into light and knowledge. 
Why should we fear that which has or will come 
to all, in accordance with nature's law? We can- 
not tell which is the greater blessing, — birth or 
dissolution; both are good. It has been a great 
[205] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



privilege to have had birth and growth and love, 
with all the joy that has been ours. All has been 
in accordance with nature, and nature is God. 
But the end comes not with that natural change 
so long called death, which we know to be accord- 
ing to nature. Even if we did not actually know 
what followed, any thinking mind should ap- 
preciate that all changes in nature are for our 
good. Over every cradle Nature bends and smiles, 
and tenderly to those whom we think dead she 
beckons and welcomes. For into this zone we 
pass bodily, our inner body the same as now, hold- 
ing all the failures and triumphs met with in this 
journey. Those conditions no honest man should 
fear. 

The idea of immortality, like the sea, has ebbed 
and flowed in the human heart, beating with end- 
less waves, since time began. All hope that they 
may reach the shore, but the words hope and faith 
concede that the fact is unknown. Uncertainty 
and ignorance breed fear. If one must rest his 
salvation on belief alone, let it be the gospel of 
help; a kind act is better than a theory. 

This life is designed to fit us for a greater work. 
I do not criticize Nature, or the Master Intelli- 
[206] 



LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE 



gence that planned our progression. I have not 
arrived at the state of mind where I feel competent 
to criticize any natural law. All others are con- 
ceded for our good. Why not the last? And if 
that be true, why weep and shed bitter tears, when 
in this change we advance to another and higher 
existence? 

The microscope discovered a new world, the 
telescope millions more. Everywhere has been 
found infinite life. In all explorations there has 
been found nothing independent of, or superior 
to, Nature, and in that presence I find God. 

Common notions about death are all wrong. 
Nothing ever dies. None who have gone ever want 
to come back. Must not that life be most engag- 
ing and fair? When a good man goes, his soul 
is filled with light, for his good deeds shine like 
stars. A noble life enriches itself and all the 
world. But all lives are not lived worthily. 
Think of the vast multitude, the endless procession, 
that hourly pass, leaving no thought, no truth, as 
a legacy of mankind. 

From the frontiers of the after life, from that 
belt or zone where spirit people live, they send us 
cheering messages, they speak in full-toned voice 
[207] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



and write, as when they lived among us. And so 
we come to know the dead have never died. 

And then again we are told, that in the next 
plane, the continuation of this, the basest soul will 
find its way and have the everlasting chance of 
doing right, and that the better souls, the finer 
men and women, pass at once to opportunity and 
happiness. 

In these chapters I have stated facts and 
narrated incidents as I have come to know them 
from those actually living in the after life. With 
all the strength that I possess, with all the person- 
ality that lies behind a life of effort, I vouch for 
the truth of what I have written. I sought in the 
beginning to bring to the understanding prop- 
ositions of vital importance, though practically 
new to every thinking mind. I restate them as 
follows: 

1. Here and now, within our physical and vis- 
ible bodies, is an invisble, living, active, inner 
body, composed and made up of substance or ma- 
terial which we term ether; it is this body 
that is permanent, holding form, feature and ex- 
pression, while the outer flesh covering, with which 
it is clothed, changes from hour to hour; death or 
[208] 



LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE 



dissolution is but the final separation of the inner 
body, which is invisible before as well as after, 
from the physical body. The spirit body passes 
into the next etheric plane of existence, vibrating 
in harmony with all that is there, where all is just 
as tangible and material to them as this plane is 
to us who are still in the physical. This change 
is Nature's process for advancing our plane of 
activity, and is not to be feared any more than 
birth. 

2. The next fact that I would bring to human 
consciousness is the location of this after life, where 
spirit people live. No subject is so little known 
and so vital to our understanding. Let me restate 
this condition as follows: 

Around and about the earth are belts or zones 
of exceeding fine matter, a substance called ether, 
varying in character or density, very similar to 
those belts or zones that the telescope has discovered 
about the planets Jupiter and Saturn. They are 
all just as much substance as the earth itself, the 
outer belts or zones being higher in vibration and 
lighter than those that touch and really blend with 
the earth itself. In those zones, from the substance 
that composes them, all structures and things are 
[209] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



builded and formed naturally, as here. They have 
fields and meadow land, rugged mountains and 
deep forests, homes, buildings, books, paintings, 
music, sculpture and institutions of learning. 
What we have are imperfect imitations of what 
exists, and first existed, there. 

Too long we have held the thought that the 
universe was specially created for us. The infinite 
mind which formed and fashioned this planet, who 
fixed its pathways and made the definite law through 
which mankind should obtain his development, 
had the wisdom, power and intelligence to create 
and provide conditions and a place in nature for 
man to finish what was here begun. Because we 
have not heretofore discovered and located the 
boundaries of the next life, should not lead us to 
the conclusion that such place or condition has not 
existed from the beginning. Men did not know 
of the continent of America until 1492, but it had 
been here millions of years before. We have not 
had actual knowledge of the after life until of 
late, but it too has existed for all time. 

If this book serves the purpose for which it is 
designed, it will bring to the consciouness of those 
who reason the two propositions, if nothing more. 
[210] 



LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE 



Visualizing the future, I see the churches that 
have not kept pace in the march of progress, open- 
ing their doors to the demonstration and proof of 
what they teach. I see the abandonment of creeds 
and faith and all beliefs, knowledge taking their 
place, and ministers aiding psychic research. I see 
a world coming to understand the inexorable laws 
of nature, and realizing that the only wealth worthy 
of effort comes from helping others and adding to 
the happiness of mankind, understanding that by 
such acts we spiritualize, refine and enrich the 
soul, and clothe the inner body with a garment 
woven from the fabric of love and generous deeds. 
I see psychic investigation reduced to a greater 
science commanding the attention of our best minds. 
This field of exploration transcends all that have 
been discovered, and its possibilities are unlimited. 
I see selfishness and greed lessen, as we come to 
know that for every act of oppression and ad- 
vantage we in the end must pay the price, for 
the laws of nature require exact compensation. I 
see the coming of the time when one who is called 
upon to act will inquire of himself, "Is it just and 
fair?" 

Looking again, I see a world of people living 
[211] 



FRONTIERS OF THE AFTER LIFE 



nobler and finer lives, helped by the teaching of 
their spirit kinsmen, who bring home to human 
consciousness the necessity of living this life ac- 
cording to our ideals if we would not go poor into 
the after life of opportunity. 

I see fear of dissolution gone from the human 
heart, understanding taking its place, as we ap- 
preciate that in dissolution the Master Intelligence 
has planned a method, like birth, by which we may 
take a step in our eternal progression. 

In the last analysis, there comes to each the 
question of where, at the journey's end, he will 
find himself. Many never permit themselves to 
think about it, hoping, possibly, by so doing, that 
they may escape something, ignoring the fact that 
earth life is designed to fit us for that most im- 
portant event, and that each is accountable for the 
opportunities that have been his. 

This is a matter of scientific fact. Faith will 
not take the place of acts, beliefs will not help, 
confession will not change conditions that a lifetime 
has made, for it will take as long to change what 
we have created for ourselves as it did to build. 

Dissolution will not add to or subtract from 
the conditions we have made. If we have been 
[212] 



LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE 



criminal or debased, the great law of attraction 
will draw us with those of similar character, 
separate and apart from others. If we have lived 
immoral lives, we shall find ourselves herded 
among those of like kind. If we have been idle 
and have not improved our minds, we shall find 
ourselves among the indolent. If we have been 
selfish, then the dark, with only selfish com- 
panions, for the only light one carries radiates from 
his own etheric body. If we have lived cleanly and 
fairly, been charitable and helpful to those less 
fortunate than we, and have done right according 
to our understanding, our souls become spiritual- 
ized; they will radiate light, by which we may see 
the glories of the after life as we enter into the 
fulness thereof. Nature metes out exact justice 
to every one. We inherit what we have created, 
and nothing more. 

I see good in every act of kindness, in all the 
words of tenderness that fall from human lips, 
and to me the sum of all the good in all the world 
is God. 



[213] 



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